Desire
by MagicInHerMadness
Summary: Desire - a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. When Olivia meets Fitz, she's sure they're too different for anything to happen between them. But she's never felt what he makes her feel. She doesn't want to just make love. She wants to make love last. Can it when they're from different worlds?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is already posted in my one shots collection. I did a little editing once I decided to make it into a full story. **

New Orleans, July 1963

Olivia pulled her white cardigan tighter around her slight body as she stood on the curb, her hand outstretched and waving to hail a taxi. She was thankful when one finally stopped in front of her as she didn't want to be late to her first teachers' meeting. She opened the door as a particularly chilly breeze swept through the air, lifting her yellow sunhat off and whisking it away.

"Oh!" She looked at the back of the cabbie's head. "Will you stay here a moment? I've lost my hat."

He grunted a reply and she quickly turned to the street, scanning to see where her hat had gone. She walked away from the cab, her eyes searching for a flash of yellow. It couldn't have gotten very far after all. Her eyes landed on a tall, dark-haired man and lit up when she spotted her hat in his large hands. He didn't look particularly menacing as he watched her walk toward him. He wore blue coveralls, the top half hanging around his waist and exposing a tight white undershirt. A cigarette dangled from his lips. She smiled politely as she came to a stop in front of him. He spit out his cigarette and stubbed it out with his steel toed boot. He was certainly handsome though his unsmiling face made her a bit wary.

"You caught my hat," she said, blushing as he unabashedly looked her over. She felt quite exposed in her yellow eyelet-hemmed A-line sundress and thin cotton pearl-buttoned cardigan. She smoothed her soft curls, her eyes flickering shyly to his. "Thank you."

He licked his lips, holding the hat out to her. He lifted his chin. "Your cab's gone."

Olivia looked back and frowned. "I'll never get another one."

"I'll get you one," he volunteered. Olivia's eyes widened as she watched him step off the curb and swagger into oncoming traffic. He stood in the road for a moment before a taxi came to a jolting stop before him. He looked at her expectantly as he walked to the cab's back door and opened it. After recovering from her shock, Olivia hurried to the cab and got in.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He nodded and she thought he would close the door but he didn't. Instead, he walked around it and leaned over so that he was looking at her. "I'm Fitz."

"It's nice to meet you, Fitz. I'm Olivia." His eyes were the same color as the sky, and his curls were almost as beautiful as hers, though his were slicked back on his head with what she guessed was pomade. She didn't particularly like men who pomaded their hair, but he was handsome enough for it to work.

"You're really pretty. You should let me take you out." He didn't ask, which was odd to her. And something about the cockiness of his approach made her want to say no.

"I'm sure you're very nice, but…" She wasn't even sure he was nice. He hadn't even said "you're welcome" when she thanked him. He had yet to even smile at her.

"Come on." He gave a smirk that softened into a smile. Olivia was surprised by how sweet it made him look. "Please, Ms. Olivia."

"That would be nice." A reluctant smile broke through. She pulled a slip of paper from her purse and hastily scribbled her name and number on it. "Call me with the details."

He smiled again and she hoped he never stopped. He playfully flicked the brim of her hat. "You keep a hold on this thing."

"I'll certainly try." He smiled at her as he stepped back and closed the cab's door. Olivia gave him a little wave as the cab drove away. She told herself to expect nothing of it. Fitz certainly wasn't her kind of man, handsome as he was. She told herself that even if he did call, she wouldn't agree to the date. She told herself that it could never work, no matter how strong the fireworks he set off in her stomach.

XXXXX

The phone was ringing when Olivia entered her apartment. She set down her purse on the small table beside the door then went to answer it, perching on the arm of her little floral settee. "Hello."

"Hello, Olivia. I thought it might be time you answered the phone for your mother," Maya Pope replied.

Olivia tried not to frown. She loved her mother, but Maya had a way of working her way under her daughter's skin with her pushing and insisting on "the way things should be." "I just got home. I had a teacher's meeting."

"Hmm," Maya replied. Olivia hadn't expected her to ask how it had gone, but she hoped just a little that her mother would take an interest in her only daughter's career. "Do you know who's getting married?"

"Who?" Olivia didn't care, but she knew it was why her mother had called.

"Joanna Gilbert. To a banker." Olivia rolled her eyes. Marrying a man with some status, no matter how menial, was Maya's greatest accomplishment and she wanted nothing less for her daughter. "She's got horse teeth and it was only her mother's meddling that made marriage even remotely possible, but still. A wedding is a wedding."

Olivia rolled her eyes again. "And what's happiness when you can have meager societal means?"

"Don't be sarcastic Olivia. It isn't attractive on anyone. And—"

"And no man will have me if I keep it up." It was immature, mimicking her mother, but these little man-catching lessons had been a part of Olivia's life since she was a debutante, and to say that she was tired of them was to say that water was wet or something even more banal.

"Mock all you want, but I'm right." She could hear her mother's frown. "Honestly, sometimes I think you're determined to see yourself an old maid."

"What's so wrong with being an old maid? I can get some cats, stop shaving, and eat all I want. It sounds like a good time to me." She was enjoying herself, needling her mother.

"All I'm trying to say is that the right man will get you to the right places, Olivia. The world is changing for colored men. That means it'll soon be changing for us too. The right man will put you ahead of the curve."

"Mother, I'm starting my first real teaching job in the fall. A girl from college wants me to write for her women's magazine. I'm handling the curve just fine. Besides, I don't want some stuffy society man. They all want to talk about themselves all the time and I'm just a sounding board. I want to be with a man who finds me interesting, a man who thrills me, a man who's lived more than going to college out of state."

"Well fine. When the circus comes back to town, I'll fix you up with the lion tamer."

Maya and Olivia talked for a bit longer before Olivia had to extract herself from the conversation. Talking to her mother always made her want to tear her hair out, mostly because Maya had the habit of hearing what she wanted and pretending nothing else was said.

Olivia found her mind drifting to Fitz. She wondered if he was thinking about her. She wondered about the chestnut hair on his hands, the biceps and abs hugged so lovingly by his t-shirt. She made herself stop fantasizing about him. He wasn't the one. The men her mother chose weren't either but that didn't mean she had to go completely opposite. She needed to find a happy medium, and a greasy mechanic wasn't it.

XXXXX

Olivia emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body and one around her head, and her eyes drifted to the phone. He hadn't called yet. She told herself that she wasn't going to worry about it. But she found herself wanting him to call. She slipped on her nightgown and opened her window, letting in the sounds of the jazz band that played on the corner every night. She smiled when the phone rang. She looked at the clock as she picked up the phone. It was a little after 10. "Hello."

"Hi," he replied. She hoped he was smiling. "It's Fitz…from earlier."

She smiled, wondering how he could think she'd forgotten him. "It's awfully late to be calling, Fitz."

"It's only 10. I just got off work. You weren't asleep were you?"

"Not yet."

"Good. Get up. I wanna take you somewhere."

It was too late for a phone call. A date was out of the question. "It's definitely too late for that."

"No it isn't. The club doesn't even open until 11. It's this little jazz place in the Quarter. They've got great food. We can dance and everything."

"I really don't think—"

"Come on." She was willing to bet he was smiling then, just from the way his voice changed. "I'll tell you what: We'll stay for half an hour. If you absolutely hate it when the time is up, I'll bring you home with my sincerest apologies."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to go out for a bit." She smiled in spite of herself. "I live on Cherry Street. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes ma'am I do. How long do you need to get ready?"

"Not very long."

"I can be there in half an hour. Is that long enough? I know girls like you need time to do stuff."

"Girls like me?" She frowned, wondering exactly what sort of girl she was "like."

"You know, beautiful and high class. A princess."

She could tell from his tone that he hadn't meant any offense though his comment didn't make her smile immediately. "Oh. Well thank you. Half an hour is plenty of time."

"Okay. I guess I should clean myself up a little too. I'll see you in a bit."

They said their goodbyes then hung up. Olivia took off her nightgown and went to her closet. She had no idea what to wear to a club in the Quarter. That wasn't really her scene. She decided to do her hair and makeup first. After blow drying her damp hair, she set it with hot rollers as she sat at her vanity. She drew her eyeliner on like Marilyn Monroe, thick and winged, and mascaraed her eyelashes until she had bedroom eyes. She painted on red lipstick, the shade her mother had always said was for prostitutes, smirking at the mirror. She couldn't believe she was doing so much for a man, one who probably wouldn't even compliment her on her effort.

She got up and went back to the closet, looking through her dresses with dismay. She was examining a purple cocktail dress with a pleated skirt when the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock and was impressed to see that he was right on time. Wrapping her ivory silk robe around her, she went to the window and looked down at the front stoop below. Fitz stood on the steps, looking up at the windows. He smiled at her. "Hi."

"Hi. I'll buzz you in," she replied. She found herself grinning as she went to her front door to hit the buzzer that opened the building's front doors. A moment later there was a knock at her door. She opened the door and had her first chance to really look him over. He wore a black t-shirt and black pants. His hair looked much cleaner and more carefully styled. Another cigarette dangled from his lips. Olivia hated to admit how nicely he cleaned up.

She forgot she was wearing only her robe until he asked, "Am I early?"

She blushed as she looked down at her robe. "No. I was just about to get dressed. I'll only be a minute. Please make yourself at home."

He took a seat on her small yellow floral settee, dwarfing it almost comically, and she went back into her bedroom. She removed her hot rollers, now cool, and shook her curls loose. She went to the closet and looked once again at her dresses. After taking out several and holding them up to her body or slipping them on, she finally pulled out a white silk strapless dress. She slipped it on and remembered that she'd stopped wearing it because of how snugly it fit. But the fit seemed appropriate for a night at a club with a man like Fitz. Thankfully she was able to get it zipped without asking him for help. She found silver peep-toe pumps, shoes her mother had vetoed on sight, and put them on then went back to the vanity. She brushed her curls into uniform waves then looked at herself in her full-length mirror. The dress's sweetheart neckline gave her the most teasing hint of cleavage, just enough to peak interest, and the pencil skirt hugged her hips divinely. She pouted at the mirror, decided tonight she would be a real sexpot like Bette Davis. She put her lipstick, compact, house key, and breath mints in a tiny silver clutch then gave herself a final look before going back into the living room. She glanced at the clock over the television, realizing her "minute" had actually been a half hour. "I'm sorry I took so long. I didn't like a thing I tried on."

"No problem." He stood and gestured to the piles of books covering her coffee table. Olivia had been weeding through her books to decide which should go in her classroom prior to her meeting. "You have a lot of books. You must be really smart."

"Well a stupid teacher never did anyone any good," she replied with a smile.

"What do you teach?"

"High school English."

He smirked. "I always hated English. It's a really impractical thing to study."

Olivia's smile twitched. "Books are a culture's only hallmarks. Without them, we have no account of our history and no way to plan for the future."

"What I mean is, Americans are builders. We're pioneers, hard workers, movers and shakers. We're not readers."

Olivia considered his thought for a moment. "I suppose we're both right. We'll have to agree to disagree on your opinion of English though."

"I'm sure I'd have paid more attention if someone like you had taught it though. You're really passionate about it." He smiled and she blushed. "We just never read anything interesting."

"All my classes are reading Hemingway in the fall."

"I've never read him." Olivia moved to the table and fished out her well-worn copy of _A Farewell to Arms_. She handed it to him, watching as he turned it over in his large hands to read the back cover. He looked up at her curiously. "It's a love story."

"A very good one."

He smirked. "It's gotta be about more than love, though."

"Does it have to be? Isn't love enough?" Her eyes met his shyly.

His smirk became that gentle smile that seemed to appear only to take her breath away. "I'll let you know when I finish it."

"I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." She nodded. Something about the conversation left her a little breathless. She wasn't sure if he'd felt it too but she was almost spinning. She walked ahead of him to the door.

Only when her back was to him did Fitz take the opportunity to look her over. "You look nice. Like a real lady."

Olivia looked at him over her shoulder as they stepped into the hallway. "As opposed to what?"

Fitz shrugged. "Nothing. I didn't mean anything by it. It was a compliment."

It was hard not to question everything he said when his tone was always the same. He lacked the smoother, more readable qualities of the men she'd dated in the past. She smiled apologetically. "Oh. Thank you."

They descended the stairs and stepped out into the warm night air. Fitz stuffed his free hand in his pocket, leading her toward his car. "You don't seem to like me very much, Ms. Olivia."

"I like you just fine. You're just…different from the men I'm used to dating." She glanced at him, hoping he didn't take offense.

His face betrayed nothing. "I can see that. I'm afraid I'm not very refined. Growing up like I did where I did, there wasn't much time or place for etiquette. My mother taught me manners but the finer points of class are lost on me. There's not much need for anything too highbrow in the life of a mechanic. I can show a girl a good time but I've never had occasion to learn how to treat a lady…until now that is."

Something about his honesty gave her butterflies. He was just a man and there was a magic to his simplicity that she couldn't comprehend but found enchanting nonetheless. She gave a little smile. "You'll find it's not a terribly difficult thing to learn."

"I hope not." He smiled too, looking over at her almost shyly. "Forgive me if I'm being too forward, but I really like, Ms. Olivia. When I saw you, I… I've never been so struck by a woman. I've known lots of girls. I've been with lots of girls, but you're something else entirely. You're a real lady, the kind of woman who shouldn't even glance at some slick-haired mechanic. But you're not haughty or anything. You gave me a shot when most girls would've turned me down flat."

He stopped in front of a shining black Cadillac. Fitz opened the passenger door for her, holding out his hand to help her in. Olivia smiled when he took hold of her hand, his fingertips brushing her palm. He remarked, "You've got real soft hands."

Olivia brought her other hand up to take hold of his, running her right thumb over the soft chestnut hair on the back of his hand while her left thumb moved over the calloused heel of his palm. Her eyes flickered coyly to his. "You don't."

"I work hard." She had no doubt that he did, looking over his shoulders and chest straining against the fabric of his shirt. "I try to keep them from feeling so bad but…"

He shrugged. She hadn't stopped caressing his hand, enjoying the contrast of their skins' textures. She couldn't help imagining what they would feel like if he was the one doing the caressing. She blushed at her thought. Fitz brought his other hand to her cheek, having tossed the book onto the seat. He brushed a fallen eyelash from the apple of her cheek. He held it to her lips. "Make a wish."

Olivia smiled, leaning close to blow the eyelash off his index finger, her eyes closed. She wished that he would turn out to be better than she hoped. Fitz's hand moved back to her cheek. He caressed the apple with his thumb. "Your skin feels like silk."

Her eyes flickered to his and she realized he was going to kiss her. Electricity tingled up her spine as his lips brushed hers tentatively. He hesitated, waiting to see if she would stop him. She didn't stiffen or ask him to stop—something she unquestioningly would have done with another man. She dropped his hand and it moved to her waist, lightly clasping. Her hands moved to his face. She caressed his stubbly cheeks, guessing he hadn't had time to shave in a few days. She normally detested facial hair of any sort, having been raised to believe it was a sign of low breeding, but his was gently prickly against her fingertips, smelling of strong manly soap. He also smelled of the faintest hint of motor oil, a scent that she guessed was just engrained in his skin by now. He repeated his gesture, brushing her lips with his own, this time with a little more force. Still, she didn't tense. She licked her lips, wanting more. The third time their lips connected, he his tongue ghosted the swell of her bottom lip and her mouth fell open, inviting him inside. He pulled her closer, tilted her head to deepen their kiss. His tongue was slightly rough and his mouth tasted of strong mouthwash. His hand moved from her face to her waist, pressing their bodies together completely. Olivia found her own hands wandering from his face to his shoulders then to his broad back, flexing beneath the soft cotton of his shirt. Her mother would have fallen dead at the knowledge of her daughter kissing on the first date—before the date had even begun at that. Maya's frowning face in her mind made her do the unthinkable. She stopped kissing him. Fitz felt her tension immediately and stopped. He let her go and she stepped back. Olivia touched the back of her neck nervously, trying desperately to make her heart settle down.

Fitz looked at her apologetically, hoping he hadn't offended her. "I'm sorry. I got carried away."

She looked up at him and smiled softly, moving to get to the car. Fitz stepped out of her way and helped her inside. Just before she got in, she looked up at him. "Don't be sorry."

They rode to the club in mostly silence. Olivia sat as far from him as she could without appearing to be deliberately putting space between them. She could hear the club's music before they went inside. She wasn't sure what to make of the small building, called simply Lou's. There were men out front shooting dice who greeted Fitz warmly. She guessed the place was a normal hangout of his.

They went inside and Olivia looked around with interest. The walls were painted a deep shade of burgundy. The small single room was lit by gold paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling and small round tables lined the perimeter of the makeshift dancefloor. A few couples sat, their heads close together as they talked. A jazz quartet took up most of the small stage, filling the place with thumping music that seemed almost too loud and lively to be just four instruments.

"What are they doing?" Olivia asked, looking around at the intertwined couples on the dancefloor. They didn't seem to be dancing so much as they were grinding against each other wantonly.

Fitz shrugged. "Doesn't really have a name."

Olivia stared, fascinated, at a tall couple in the center of the floor. The woman, a tall blonde wearing a deep blue dress with a high slit, wound in an almost serpent-like way, her top half bending backward until she was almost folded in half. Her hips never lost their rhythm, moving in tandem with those of a dark-haired man who held her waist. Olivia had never seen anything like it. Fitz led her to a table in a corner, already occupied by a dark-haired man puffing on a cigar.

"They let you in here? This place is really going downhill," Fitz greeted, smirking at the man who looked up at him with a smile.

"Seems this place is a haven for riff raff," he replied as he stood to shake Fitz's hand.

Fitz laughed and looked at Olivia. "Olivia this is some of the worst company you'll ever hope to keep, Stephen Finch. Watch him. He's a gangster."

"_I'm_ a gangster? Suppose I'd have to be to hang out with bastards like you." Stephen smiled at Olivia. "I was an altar boy before he got a hold of me."

"I'm sure." She smiled politely as she shook his hand.

Fitz pulled out a chair for her and she sat down between the two men. Stephen stubbed out his cigar and took a sip of his drink. Olivia guessed it was scotch. He said, "Amanda's here. She's been asking about you."

Olivia looked at Fitz, deciding to gauge his reaction to the mention of "Amanda" before she jumped to any conclusions. His face remained neutral. "Oh yeah? It's her birthday, isn't it?"

"Yeah. She's 25." Stephen turned to Olivia. "Do I look old enough to have a 25-year-old baby sister?"

She smiled, unsure of what to tell him. He didn't look particularly old but his bleary eyes and stubbly face left her confused as to how old he actually was. "I suppose not."

Fitz laughed. "She's just being polite. You look like hell."

Olivia laughed and Fitz draped his arm over the back of her chair, smiling at her. The blonde Olivia had seen dancing approached the table. She seemed to have ditched her partner. She grinned at Fit. "Fitz you're here! I've been asking Stevie about you! He said you weren't coming!"

"I wasn't, but I wanted to show my lady friend a good time." He looked at Olivia then back at Amanda. "Amanda, this is Olivia. Liv, this is Amanda."

The women shook hands, smiling politely but coldly, simultaneously saying, "Nice to meet you."

Amanda quickly turned her attention back to Fitz. "Aren't you gonna dance with me for my birthday?"

"Well I…" He looked at Olivia unsurely.

Olivia smirked. Was he serious? He couldn't have been. But she knew it wouldn't do any good to act jealous. She couldn't properly assess the threat if Amanda thought she was intimidated. "Go on. It's her birthday. I'll be fine here with Stephen."

Fitz looked at her unsurely for a long moment before getting up. "I'll be right back."

"Take your time," she insisted, still smiling. Amanda eagerly took Fitz's hand and led him to the corner where she'd been dancing with the other man. Olivia refused to look at them as Amanda pressed her hips to Fitz's, making a show of enjoying herself. Instead, Olivia turned to Stephen. "So, Stephen, what do you do?"

He grinned. "I'm a full-time drunk. Occasionally I do construction. What do you do?"

Olivia laughed. "I'm a teacher."

"Really?" His eyes traveled over her face down to her cleavage and back. He grinned. "You don't look like a teacher."

Olivia smiled. "Thank you…I guess."

"What do you teach? Ballet or something? You look like a dancer."

Olivia blushed, trying to decide if he was deliberately flirting with her or just drunk. She hoped he was just drunk. "I teach high school English."

Stephen laughed heartily. Olivia knew then that he was properly sloshed. "My favorite class to skip in school."

"Fitz's too so I hear."

Stephen glanced over his shoulder at Amanda and Fitz. They were dancing, having a conversation that was apparently quite lively for Amanda. Olivia's smile twitched as she watched them. Stephen turned to look at her, leaning a bit closer than she would have liked him. He smelled very strongly of cologne and liquor. "Don't you worry about that. My sister's a tramp. I love her to death, but she is. And Fitz has never gone for the easy, low-hanging fruit. He likes to climb the tree and get the shiniest, ripest apple there is. Believe me when I tell you, Amanda ain't it."

Olivia nodded, trying to decide if his comment made her feel better or worse. She wasn't a challenge to be conquered. She was a prize, but not one to be won. She decided not to address his comments about Fitz, instead replying, "I'm sure your sister's a nice girl."

"She's a dime-store hooker. I can't tell you how many guys' asses I've kicked for sniffing around her. She's got a new boyfriend every week. Whatever she's got for Fitz will be gone the second somebody with deeper pockets comes around."

Olivia chuckled. "That's not a very nice thing to say about your sister."

"We're Catholic. The last thing my mother raised was a liar. I'm a drunk and Amanda's a whore, but we ain't ever been liars."

Olivia laughed, unsure of what else to say. Stephen was a character if nothing else. A moment later, Fitz returned without Amanda. Olivia glanced at him but didn't say anything. Instead she looked at Stephen. She, too, could play his game. "So you're Catholic?"

"Yes ma'am." He pulled a strand of rosary beads from his pocket. "I go to Mass as often as I'm awake for it."

Olivia laughed. "I haven't been to church in months. My mother's threatening to call the preacher to my house."

"I'm not much of a church-goer myself," Fitz replied.

Olivia turned to look at him. "Well, it's hardly a cardinal sin to miss a few services."

"Let's hope not," he replied with a smile. He hoped his dancing with Amanda hadn't upset her. He'd kept trying to catch her eye as he danced but she never looked at him. He cut the dance short, hurrying back to the table to find out what was so funny. He didn't like Stephen making her laugh.

"I'm going to the bar. Would you like anything, Ms. Olivia?" Olivia turned away from Fitz, making him frown, and smiled at Stephen as he got up with a sway.

"I'll have a Tom Collins," she replied.

Stephen laughed. "Sounds fancy. Maybe I'll have one myself."

Olivia smiled. "They're quite good."

He schlepped away from the table and Olivia turned back to Fitz. His arm was draped over her chair but she had leaned out of his embrace, resting her elbows on the table. Fitz frowned at her. "He's flirting with you."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." She batted her eyelashes innocently.

Fitz continued to frown. "I did."

Olivia smirked at him. "Maybe he was just being nice."

Fitz shook his head. "Stephen's a mean drunk. When he's nice, he wants something."

Olivia shrugged. "I thought he was just keeping me company."

His eyes softened. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about Amanda. She's…"

"Quite the girl from what Stephen told me," Olivia replied. She'd never imagined herself to be one of those girls who plucked a man's strings, and for a bit she felt bad because he clearly felt bad, but he couldn't be let off the hook so easily.

Fitz looked at her dolefully. "You're upset."

"I'm not." Olivia frowned at her lap. Fitz looked away from her, clearly unsure of how to fix things. Olivia turned her frown on him. "You said you wanted to learn how to treat a lady. Ladies don't like being ignored, especially not for other women."

"I'm sorry." He leaned forward in his seat, his chest brushing the back of her shoulder. His index finger pulled her chin around so that she was looking at him fully. "I'm all yours for the rest of the night. I promise."

Before she could reply, Stephen returned with two Tom Collins threatening to spill from his shaky hand as he danced to the band's upbeat music. He set down at glass in front of Olivia then plopped into his seat. He looked at the cherry resting in the bottom of his glass then at Olivia. "Why's it got fruit in it?"

"To sweeten up the gin I suppose. Plus cherries and lemonade go nicely together," she answered.

"Very sophisticated." Stephen chuckled. He downed the drink in one gulp and grinned. "Very nice. I think I've just found my new favorite drink thanks to you, Ms. Olivia."

"You probably shouldn't gulp them down that way," Olivia admonished.

Fitz again leaned forward in his seat and pulled her face around to his. "Do you wanna dance?"

Olivia glanced at the dancefloor. "I can't do that."

"Sure you can. It's easy." He smiled. "I'll teach you."

Olivia watched for a moment. There was something wanton—something unabashedly sexual—about the dance. She had never moved that way, not even during sex. She looked back at Fitz. "I don't think I'd be very good at it."

Fitz smirked. "Only one way to find out."

He stood and Olivia followed, expecting him to offer his hand but he just looked at her expectantly. She followed him to the dance floor and stood unsure before him, wondering what to do. Fitz stepped closer and placed his hand in the small of her back to pull her body against his. He moved his hips against hers, swaying them in a circular motion that pulled hers along with them. He smirked at her. "Moving might help."

Olivia looked down at their touching bodies and imitated his movements shyly. Fitz grabbed her chin and made her look at him. "Just feel it. Stop thinking about it."

His hand pressed firmer against her lower back, smashing her into him. She glanced away from him, looking around at the other couples. The other women didn't seem to feel as dirty as she did moving that way. In fact, they seemed to enjoy it. She wrapped her arms around his neck as the band started up a rendition of Maurice Clayton and The Zodiacs' "Stay." She wound her hips to the sultry song, deciding to take Fitz's advice and "feel it."

Her eyes moved back to his, his hips never faltering. There was a challenge in his gaze that she was eager to meet. She decided that that night, in that little club, she would be dirty. She kept winding her hips, her eyes beginning to twinkle as she started to enjoy herself. Fitz grinned at her, knowing she was proud of herself for keeping up with him. "I told you it was easy."

"Or maybe I'm just a quick learner," she replied.

By the time the band took a break for intermission, Olivia had mastered the hip-swiveling dance. Her curls had fallen into loose waves around her glowing face as they walked back to the table.

"Are you hungry?" Fitz pulled out her chair then took a seat next to her.

Olivia took a napkin from the pile on the table and dabbed at her dewy skin. She wondered what kind of food such a place served, but she _was_ a little hungry. She decided it couldn't be terribly bad. "I could eat."

Fitz signaled for a waitress, happy that Stephen was gone. He didn't want to share Olivia's attention. A tall redhead wearing a tiny strapless cocktail dress made of black sequins approached the table carrying a round black tray. She sneered at Fitz. "They let you back in here? This place is really going to hell."

Fitz laughed. "Cut me a break, Abby."

"I'd rather just cut you," Abby replied with a smile.

Fitz turned to Olivia. "Liv this is Abby. She's mean to me because I won't tip for her terrible service."

Abby smiled at Olivia. "What's a nice lady like you doing with a bum like him?"

Olivia smirked at Fitz. "He dragged me here against my will."

Fitz smirked, thinking if he dragged her anywhere, it would be to his bed. "If I was gonna drag you somewhere, it wouldn't be to this dump."

Olivia blushed, catching the undertone of his words. Abby laughed. "So what can I get y'all?"

"I want a rib plate and a beer," Fitz replied. His fingers drummed on Olivia's shoulder. "Bring Ms. Olivia the special and a Tom Collins."

"Tom Collins? You _really_ don't belong in this joint," Abby replied as she wrote down their order. She walked away, headed for the bar. Olivia guessed the kitchen was behind it.

Fitz looked at his watch then at Olivia. "You know, my half hour's up."

Olivia looked at the clock on the wall behind the stage. He was right. She hadn't realized it had been so long. She looked at him, a small smile playing on her lips. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stay a while longer, especially since we've got dinner coming. I'm very curious about this special I'm getting."

"Me too. The special's always really good."

Abby appeared with their drinks, setting them on the table. "I told Huck you're a special guest of Fitz so your special should be extra special."

Olivia smiled. "That's very kind."

Abby left and Fitz picked up Olivia's glass to examine her drink. "I figured you'd be a champagne kind of girl."

Olivia smirked. "Somehow I doubt this place has champagne."

"Not any that I would recommend you drink anyway," Fitz replied as he handed her the glass. "I just didn't peg you for a gin-drinker. You're so…soft and pretty and girlish."

Olivia laughed. "If I'm all that then what are you?"

"Scruffy and ill-mannered, mostly." He gave a shy grin. Olivia wished he wouldn't smile. It would be far easier to keep her wits if he didn't.

She reached out to rub his scruffy cheek. "I'm sure you're more than that."

"I'm funny sometimes."

Olivia laughed, her head falling back. When she recovered, she found him staring at her with dazed eyes. "What?"

"Nothing. You're just pretty. I've never been with a girl so pretty."

Blush warmed her cheeks. "Oh I'm sure that isn't true."

"Oh it is. Beautiful girls don't usually go for me. I'm a little rough around the edges if you hadn't noticed."

Olivia watched his long fingers tap on the table to the band's beat. "I'll admit you're an adjustment, but I have a feeling you're very sweet when you want to be."

"I am. I promise." He looked at her seriously. "Ms. Olivia, I'm sure there are loads of guys after you. And I'm sure there are loads of guys better than me after you. I don't have a lot of money, and I'm not as cultured as you, but I'll treat you so good. You won't believe how happy I can make you. I'll treat you how you want to be treated if you'll teach me."

She didn't doubt that he was telling the truth, but did she really want the hassle of teaching him everything? It was far more likely that he would bring her down than she would lift him up. But would she really be so shallow? _Could_ she be so shallow when he made her heart thump so violently? Hadn't she just told her mother she wanted to be thrilled? And wasn't he thrilling? She glanced at him and he smiled charmingly, almost boyishly. She wanted to kiss his incisors out of his mouth. She reached for his large hand, running her fingernails over the curly hair on the back, and replied, "Somehow I don't think I'll have to teach you. I think you know just fine."

His grin became mischievous. "I know a few things, nothing I should mention to a lady like you though."

Olivia blushed, but held his gaze. "Even if I'm _very_ interested?"

Fitz laughed, leaning closer to her. Olivia smiled as she continued to run her fingernails over the back of his hand.

XXXXX

After they finished their meal, Fitz looked at the clock on the wall. It was 12:30. He looked at Olivia, nursing her third drink. "I think it's time I got you home."

Olivia too looked at the clock. "I didn't realize it was so late. I suppose we should get going."

Fitz stood and pulled her chair back. Olivia stood and picked up her purse, watching with a smile as Fitz dropped a ten dollar bill on the table for Abby just as she sauntered over. She picked up the money and smirked at him. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Fitz smirked back. "Trying to be a decent guy. I forgot you're not used to that."

Abby laughed and looked at Olivia. "I hope you come back Ms. Olivia. Fitz is much more tolerable in your presence."

Olivia smiled. "I suppose I'll be back. That is, if Fitz asks me out again."

Abby looked at Fitz then back at her. "Oh he will. I haven't seen him this happy in I don't know how long."

Fitz smirked. "It's so nice to be discussed as if I'm not standing here."

Abby sneered. "The male ego is so fragile."

"It's almost as delicate as we girls are supposed to be," Olivia agreed, tossing Fitz a teasing grin.

He laughed, wrapping his arm around her waist. "It's time I got you away from Abby. Wouldn't want her corrupting you."

They said their goodbyes and walked out into the warm night. Olivia wondered how to end the night. They had already kissed, so that treat was gone. She supposed she could invite him in for a drink but it was hardly the hour for entertaining. And she definitely wasn't the kind to sleep with a man on the first date. She was rebelling against some of the more stringent parts of her upbringing but she hadn't gone crazy. But there he was, smelling so sweetly masculine as he pressed her into the door of his car. His hands held her arms as he looked down at her.

"I'm not ready to let you go," he said, stepping close and closing the small space between them. She wondered if she'd ever been with a man who emanated the kind of strength that Fitz did. Surely she hadn't. She definitely wouldn't have let them go. She wrapped her arms around his broad back, her fingertips playing over his firm shoulder blades.

"Then don't," she breathed, barely loud enough for him to hear. This time when he kissed her, there was nothing tentative about it. He wasn't testing the waters anymore. He was churning like a whirlpool intent on drowning her. Olivia sucked on his tongue until he stopped kissing her. His lips found the hollow of her throat, licking the lamb soft skin with wanton hunger. He'd never tasted anything as delicious as her flesh. Olivia's knees weakened. Her grip on his back tightened desperately, if only to keep upright. "Fitz…"

"Hmm?" He didn't move his mouth from her neck, where she knew she would have an impressive the next day.

"Let's go. People are looking." In the few seconds that she could keep her fluttering eyes open, she had seen quite a few people stop and look them over as they made their way into the club.

"I don't care," he replied. He wanted to take her right there. He didn't care about having an audience as he fingers dug into her fleshy hips.

"Fitz…" He finally made himself stop, leaning against her as his breathing normalized. He could feel her heart hammering against his chest as she looked up at him with a flushed face.

"I should take you home before things go too far," he said, offering her an out if she wanted one. He didn't see her as being the type to sleep with him so soon, and he was perfectly content with waiting so long as she wasn't close to kiss and caress. If she was within arm's reach, he couldn't guarantee any self-control if she didn't stop him. And she didn't seem to want to stop him. But he didn't want her to regret it, or him, or think he'd taken her out of her element to get all he could from her. He wanted her to want it.

Olivia knew she needed to go home, that she shouldn't have been out with him to begin with. Nothing good ever happened after midnight, especially not with a man like Fitz. He was making her forget everything: who she was, who she was supposed to be, how things were supposed to go on first dates. But was it really so bad to forget all the ties that had bound her in boredom-stricken ambivalence her whole life? She should have gone home, but she wasn't so sure she wanted to do the things she should have been doing. She wanted to do what she wanted, to embrace the lust jumping double-dutch in her veins. She finally looked up at him shyly. "You don't have to take me home if you don't want to."

"Where should I take you?" He cupped her cheek in his hand, running his thumb over her lipstick-less bottom lip.

"Wherever you want," she replied. She blushed at their accidental double entendre.

The drive to his apartment building was as quick as he could manage without breaking any laws. He parked in front of his building and got out of the car to get to her door. Olivia surprised him by getting out of the car on her own and standing on the sidewalk waiting for him. She glanced around at his neighborhood. It wasn't much different from her own. Everything as in need of a good power-washing, and teens didn't usually hang out under streetlights on her street, but it seemed much safer than she'd imagined. Fitz took her hand and led her up the two dark flights of stairs to his floor. Her stairway was lighted and not so narrow, but she managed better than he'd thought she would in her shoes. He got to his door, painted a rusty red and missing its number then turned back to her.

"You'll have to excuse my place. It's not really fit for a lady," he said before unlocking the door. She followed him inside and he turned on the living room lights. Olivia looked around. The room was sparsely furnished with only a couch, radio, and coffee table, but it was cleaner than she'd expected of a single man. His kitchen was small and clean with a little round dining table not unlike her small square one. Its yellow paint was peeling but nothing else seemed to be in disrepair.

"You have a lot more space than me," she commented as she followed him to his bedroom.

"I have a lot less stuff than you." He dropped the book on the coffee table then led her into his room, turning on the light as he crossed the threshold. His bedroom, like the living room, was sparsely furnished. There was only a bed, made seemingly in a hurry, a dresser, another radio sitting on a little table next to the bed, a record player in the corner, and a large table in the far corner, littered with what she guessed were engine parts. It reminded her of her desk, cherry wood and femininely carved with roses on its outer wall, littered with books, papers, her typewriter, and at least two coffee mugs. Fitz moved to drape a large tarp over the table. "Excuse the mess. I'm rebuilding an engine."

"It's not a mess. It's your work table. I have one too," she replied, wondering if she should sit on his bed. She had come this far. There was certainly no need to act squeamish. They both knew she hadn't come to listen to records. Fitz moved to the radio and turned it on. A moment later the room was filled with "Stay." Olivia took it as a sign. She ran a hand through her hair, looking at him sheepishly as she set her purse on the dresser. She leaned against it, watching as he removed his t-shirt. She definitely hadn't been with a man so beautifully made. He walked over to her, stopping short to leave a few inches of breathing space.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked, looking into her eyes for any flicker of uncertainty.

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "Don't you want me?"

He answered by pulling her roughly to him and slamming his lips into hers. Olivia lifted her arms, draping them around his neck and began winding her hips the way she had on the dancefloor. She opened her eyes and gazed challengingly at him. "Moving might help."

Fitz matched her motion, smirking at her, as his hands moved to the back of her dress in search of her zipper. He found it and slid it down, never halting their movements as he peeled her dress away from her body. It slipped over her hips and pooled around her ankles. Fitz clasped her hips and turned her around so that she was facing the mirror. Olivia stared at their reflection, the contrast of their skin, the way his hulking frame dwarfed hers in the dim light. His roughened fingers slid up her thighs with an aching tenderness, moving to grip the lush globe of her breast spilling over from her bra's flimsy cup.

"You are so beautiful." His warm breath skittered over the shell of her ear. "Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?"

He trailed kisses from her earlobe down her neck to her shoulder, moving his hands to her back to unhook her bra. He let the lacy garment hit the floor and cupped her bare breasts, squeezing them gently. Olivia lifted her hands to twine her fingers in his hair. Fitz lowered his lips to the curve of her jaw. His eyes flickered to their reflection. He was struck again by her beauty. He knew it was crazy, to want to claim her, to possess such beauty, but he wanted her to be his.

"You smell so good," he murmured against her goose-bumped flesh. His left hand moved to the waistband of her silk panties, delving beneath it gently. Olivia let out a startled sob of pleasure when he stroked her firm pearl. Fitz grinned, using his right hand to turn her head so he could kiss her. Olivia sucked his tongue, groaning in his mouth as he stroked her into a frenzy. Fitz had never been so overwhelmed by a woman. There were so many layers to his desire, so much he wanted to touch and taste. It was dizzying, his want for her.

"Fitz I can't wait any more," she moaned, trembling in his arms. She was overwhelmed by the wanton need to be naked with him. Fitz halted his ministrations to push her panties down her thighs. Olivia reached back to push down his boxers.

Now naked, skin to skin, something shifted. It became primal, instinctual. Fitz clasped her hips, pushing both their bodies into the dresser's cool wood. He aligned their cores and pushed inside her, earning a groan from both their mouths. Olivia braced her hands against the dresser, pushing back against him. She was surprised at her eagerness and even more at the pleasure that surged through her veins when he began moving his hips to meet hers. She was careless with want for him and hot on the trail of an orgasm that she suspected would rock her world. Fitz grunted, holding tighter on her hips, and matched her stroke for stroke. Olivia's eyes flickered to their reflection and she found herself transfixed by the look on his face as he watched their cores connect. Olivia wondered if the mirror successfully covered the sounds of their lovemaking and guessed that it didn't as she heard herself moaning his name. They glistened with sweat as they made the dresser knock against the wall.

XXXXX

Later, they lay entangled in Fitz's sheets, naked and boneless from giving the dresser a rather strenuous workout. Olivia looked down at her chest, covered in leopard-like spots from Fitz's mouth. She'd normally have balked at being branded like cattle, but she liked that the marks were from him. She watched him sleep, his arms wrapped around her waist to hold him firmly against him. He looked much younger than his 32 years. She marveled at the length of his eyelashes, smiling at the boyish quality they lent his face. His mouth, now relaxed, seemed softer, fuller than usual, and the urge to kiss him made her feel both decadent and shy.

"Fitz," she whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Do you want me to be awake?" he replied, cuddling closer.

"Just for a little while." She rolled over in his embrace, pressing her bare chest to his.

He smirked at her in the semi-darkness. "Well here I am."

"Have you had many women?"

He blinked at her. "What?"

"Have you had many women?" she repeated, reaching up to smooth his sleep-frazzled hair.

"Define many."

"More than 10."

"Yes." He wasn't sure what to make of their conversation.

"More than 20?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Yes."

"More than 25?"

Fitz blushed and was thankful she couldn't see it in the darkness. "Yes."

"How many?" She frowned, wondering what sort of man he was.

"I'm not really sure." He frowned too, sensing she was put off by the new knowledge. "It's not like it sounds."

"How is it?" She had been with three men including him, and she realized there were differences between the way men and women did things, but his number seemed excessive.

"I was young and stupid. At 20, I'd plough anything that didn't shake me off."

"And now?"

He smiled shyly. "I suppose I've got more sense than that."

She smirked. "I'd hope so."

"What about you? Have you had many men? Is that impolite to ask a lady?"

Olivia smirked. "A bit but I'm not ashamed. I've been with 3 men, including you."

"That's such a small number." Fitz wasn't sure what to make of her number. He was sure it was normal for women like her, that social standards required such chastity, but comparing his track record to hers made him feel like a hedonist.

"I haven't met many men deserving of such privilege." She ran her fingers through his hair and down to the wispy curls on the back of his neck.

"I could see that. A woman like you shouldn't settle for any guy sniffing around." Fitz rolled her onto her back, covering her body with his. Olivia wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his muscular back. "I'm wondering if you could teach me something, Ms. Olivia."

"And what is it you're wanting to know?" she asked, letting her thighs fall apart.

"I'd like to know how to make love to a lady, if one's willing to teach me." He smiled that boyish smile and Olivia swore her heart turned a flip.

"Well you have to be slow and diligent."

"Slow and diligent," he repeated between kisses on the hollow of her throat.

"And gentle." She ran her fingers through his hair, guiding his hand between her legs.

"And gentle." He ran his fingers between her slick folds, opening her, teasing her.

"And…" She lost track of her thoughts as he pressed against her entrance. Olivia lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist. Fitz held her hips, moving gently inside her.

"God Liv…" He buried his face in her neck, kissing her neck and chest.

"Fitz…" He would never tire of the way she breathed his name.

"Keep saying my name," he commanded gently.

"Fitz…" He kissed her lips, sucking on the bottom one. "Fitz… Fitz… Fitz…"

Each capitulation earned a kiss sweeter than the last. Her hips copied his motion, just as they had when they danced. Fitz held her hands above her head, trailing hot kisses from the dip in her collarbone to her lips.

"Like this?" he asked, biting her left breast gently. "Is this good?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Fitz was sure there was no sexier sound than her half-whispered moans. He tugged on the taut tips of her breasts.

The slow merciful grind of their hips combined with his mouth kissing and biting her most sensitive spots left her shaking. Fitz hummed in appreciation each time he discovered a new sweet spot that made her gasp and quiver. Her orgasm took her by surprise and she held him for dear life as she splintered into a million pieces. She was a quivering mess in his arms, repeating his name breathlessly. Still he moved in and out of her, whispering her name so softly, writing love letters on her heart that made it hard to breathe. With one final groan of her name, he too fell over the cliff into oblivion. Olivia wrapped her legs around his waist, running her fingers through his hair as their breathing stabilized. The radio crooned "Hungry Eyes."

He looked up at her. "Did I do it right?"

Olivia gave a dazed smile. "So right."

**A/N: Chapter 2 is almost done and should be up in a few days! I'm really excited for this story and I hope y'all like it! Don't forget to review! XOXOXO**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi! So the response to this story is incredible and I'm so glad so many people want to read about this Olitz because I've fallen in love with them. This chapter picks up the morning after the end of chapter 1.**

Olivia smiled at Fitz's bare back as he stood at his kitchen counter. She couldn't see what he was doing until he sighed and turned to scrape something out of a skillet. He looked up and smiled at the sight of her, standing in his doorway, dwarfed by his t-shirt.

"I tried to make you breakfast but I'm not very good at it," he said. "I went to the corner store and got some croissants though."

"Croissants sound good. Is there coffee?" She walked over to inspect his handiwork in the skillet. The eggs were half-runny and half stuck to the skillet. She watched as he scraped his disastrous breakfast into the garbage can then went to the microwave to remove a plate laden with croissants.

He carried the plate and the coffee pot to the table then turned to look at her again. "I've only got one chair."

Olivia smirked. "I take it you don't have many guests."

"None that stay for breakfast." Olivia walked over. She sat on the table, placing her bare feet on the edge of the chair's seat and balancing the plate of croissants on her lap. "What do you want in your coffee?"

"A little milk and a lot of sugar." Fitz nodded and retrieved the milk from the refrigerator and the sugar from the cabinet. He sat in the chair and watched Olivia fix her coffee with a smile. She looked up at him. "Do you want some?"

"No. I take my coffee black." He took a croissant from the plate and nodded at her. "You look cute in my shirt."

Olivia blushed. "It's really comfortable."

They ate breakfast and Fitz insisted Olivia go back to bed while he got ready for work. When he emerged from the shower, clad in only a towel, Olivia blushed as she looked away from his bare, glistening chest. She rolled onto her back, watching him pull a white t-shirt and jeans from his dresser. "I should call a cab."

Fitz looked up at her as he put on light blue boxers. "Where you going?"

"Home," she replied unsurely.

Fitz shook his head. "You don't have to go. I'll be back in a few hours."

He pulled on his t-shirt then walked over. Olivia breathed in his soapy scent. He smiled as he sat on the bed. "I want to see you when I get off work."

Olivia knew she was breaking every dating rule, that this was the time when she was supposed to be aloof and mysterious, to say no just because she could, but she couldn't do anything when he smiled like that. She gave him a shy smile. "Okay. I'll stay."

He broke into a real grin then, flashing his perfect white teeth. "Want me to stay until you fall back asleep?"

Olivia nodded sheepishly, smiling as he lay back on the bed next to her. Olivia moved closer and lay her head on his chest. She wondered how a man who wore no cologne could smell so heavenly. It didn't take long for his scent and warmth to lull her to sleep though Fitz stayed much longer than he'd intended, watching her eyes flutter as she dreamed. He was an hour late for work but didn't notice.

XXXXX

Fitz opened the door and walked into his quiet apartment. "Livvie? Where are you?"

He frowned when he didn't get an answer, hoping she hadn't changed her mind and left after he went to work. A moment later he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and smiled at Olivia as she stood in the doorway, holding a basket full of white clothes. "What have you been up to, little woman?"

"Well I took a shower and I realized I needed clean underwear or the shower didn't have a point. So I went to wash them and decided to just do a little load of laundry since I didn't have anything else to do. I hope you don't mind." She walked into his bedroom and he followed, watching as she dumped the clothes on his bed. Fitz walked over to inspect her handiwork, picking up one of his t-shirts.

"It's so clean. And so soft. How'd you do this?" he asked, rubbing the shirt against his face.

"Bleach and fabric softener, two things you need to add to your grocery list." She gave a teasing grin.

"I don't have a grocery list."

Olivia blinked at him as she sat on the bed and began folding his laundry. "What do you get at the grocery store?"

"Stuff I don't have to cook. I'm not very good at that, remember?" He picked up another t-shirt to fold and her panties fell out of it. He smiled at he picked them up. "You probably need these."

"Yeah I do," she replied with a smile as she took them. "I borrowed a pair of yours—and a clean shirt—I hope you don't mind."

Looking at her, swaddled in his blue and green plaid shirt with his boxers underneath, he wondered what stroke of luck had blown her hat into his hands and her into his life. "Yeah. You can keep them if you want."

"I think I'll just keep the shirt. I don't have much use for men's underwear," she replied with a little laugh.

They finished folding his laundry then Olivia had Fitz take her home, scurrying out to his car in a hilarious hurry so that no one saw her clad in his shirt over her party dress. When they reached her apartment, Olivia found herself having a terribly difficult time telling Fitz goodbye. Each "see you later" kiss turned into "just one more." They wasted twenty minutes in her doorway before Olivia finally suggested Fitz come with her to move her books into her classroom. She changed into red Levi's jeans, tucking Fitz's shirt into them, and white Keds tennis shoes before giving her face a good scrub and pulling her hair back into a French twist that would never be as neatly done as her mother's. She put on sunglasses and red lipstick, deciding she needed to look put together but not too groomed in case she ran into her boss. The only lesson she'd learned from her mother that was actually useful was to always appear unassuming and unstudied so as to make any subsequent cunning and ingenuity seem almost serendipitous. People were much more accepting of unexpected genius in women and Olivia assumed her boss—whomever he might be—would be no different.

They held hands as they drove to DuBois High School, a few streets over from Olivia's apartment and not too far from Fitz's garage. He grinned at her as he pulled into a parking space. "It'll be nice having you so close. I can come take you to lunch."

"Standing lunch dates? That must mean we're going steady." She gave a teasing grin. "I guess I'd better tell all my other boyfriends to get lost."

Fitz smirked as he pinched her cheek. "You sure better. Some say I'm the jealous type."

Olivia laughed as she got out of the car. Fitz grabbed her box of books from the backseat then followed her into the building. Olivia led him down at long wide hallway lined with lockers before coming to a stop in front of a classroom door perpendicular to the south wall of the building with glass double doors that led to a walkway to the school's adjacent gymnasium. She opened the door and walked into the room, stopping to turn on the light.

The room was yellow with posters of Shakespeare between the four windows lining the room's south wall. Olivia smirked at them. "Those have to go. So cheesy."

"Well who else would you put on the wall?" Fitz asked as he set the books on a desk. The desks were all pushed back against the room's walls.

"T.S. Elliot, Hemmingway, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Kate Chopin… Bozo the Clown. Anyone but Shakespeare. Kids hear that name and immediately lock up. He's one writer whose reputation of genius hurts rather than helps." She walked over to the posters and began removing them.

"Well it's not English for one thing," Fitz replied.

"The language is the biggest hurdle. You spend so much time helping the kids translate that by the end they're too bored and exhausted to understand the themes. I try to teach as little Shakespeare as possible." She got to the last of the posters and lay them on a nearby desk. "I generally gloss over anything from antiquity. It's been my experience—meager as it is—that the kids don't care. They want sex and romance and drama and the generally taboo. Sure Shakespeare has all that, but it's an uphill battle getting to it. I always like to start with Poe. He really piques their interest."

Fitz sat on a desk. "He wrote the poem about the bird, right?"

"Yes." Olivia smiled. "_The Raven_ is one of my favorites. _The Fall of the House of Usher_ is just creepy enough to make the boys actually participate in discussions and I haven't met a girl who hasn't swooned over _Annabel Lee_…heaven knows why they would though."

"What's wrong with it?"

"She dies of tuberculosis and her lover crawls into her grave to be with her. It's not clear if he stays until he dies too or if he just visits but the idea is enough to make my flesh crawl. Still, the man has a way with words."

Fitz grinned at her. "I could listen to you talk forever."

"Well it's not too late to enroll," she teased.

"Once in high school was enough for me." He laughed. "Plus, I'm sure you get in loads of trouble for stealing kisses from the teacher between classes."

Olivia smiled at him over her shoulder as she began unfurling her own posters. "I won't tell if you won't."

Fitz laughed as he got up to help her hang the posters. He smirked at the top of her head. "You're so short, Livvie."

Olivia looked up at him then turned around to smile. "Well maybe you're too tall."

Fitz smiled as he leaned down to kiss her then pulled her up onto her toes. Olivia twined her fingers in the curls on the back of his neck. There was a knock on the open door and they sheepishly stopped kissing. Olivia peered around Fitz's body at the white-haired woman who stood before them, an amused smirk on her thin lips.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Ms. Pope," the woman said, stepping further into the room.

Olivia smiled shyly, wondering who the woman was. "No. Just a little redecorating."

The woman continued smiling. "Forgive me. I've forgotten my manners. I'm Principal Thornton."

Olivia's smile twitched. "You're… It's very nice to meet you ma'am."

"You were expecting a man, probably a colored one." She seemed pleased at surprising Olivia.

"Well…" Olivia blushed.

Fitz's hand found her lower back. He leaned close to her ear. "I'm gonna get the other box of books out of the car."

He brushed a kiss on the curve of her jaw then left the room, giving Principal Thornton a polite smile as he side-stepped her. The older woman smirked as she looked at him over her shoulder then turned back to Olivia. "I see you brought a little surprise of your own."

Olivia blushed. "He's a…friend of mine."

"I've never had occasion to kiss a friend that way. Perhaps I need new friends," she replied with a humorous grin. She walked over to inspect the books Olivia was removing the box to line the shelf behind her desk. "You've got a lot of colored authors here."

"Yes ma'am. I think it's important for the kids to read books by people who look like them. The white authors are fine, but the connection is missing. The kids don't feel the need to understand the stories because these aren't their experiences. So I try to give them stories that have pieces of their lives."

"I hope your plan works. I've always thought there should be a bigger emphasis on colored literature. Children need heroes that look like them." She glanced at Olivia. "I suppose that's an odd stance for me to have, being who I am where I am."

"I'll admit I'm very curious as to how you ended up here," Olivia replied.

"Well I'm no idiot. I know I could be making more money somewhere I'd be much more welcome. And I'm aware that my presence creates an odd conundrum with all the Civil Rights issues going on. This position absolutely should be held by a colored person, but here I am. I thought of not taking it to be perfectly honest with you. But then I thought about what might happen if I didn't. I thought about all the funding that would be ungiven. I thought about all the field trips that wouldn't happen." She met Olivia's unsure gaze with a determined one. "I don't mean to say I'm a blessing. I mean to say that white people give me things they would never give a colored man. I mean to say that we're going to bleed this system dry for these children, Ms. Pope. I'm going to grin and be as white as I please to make sure these children have everything the kids across town have."

Olivia was impressed by the cunning look on her face. She wasn't sure if her plan would work, if the woman had set up the proper circumstances to accomplish what she wanted, but she had to admire the woman's determination. Principal Thornton had guts if nothing else. "I look forward to working with you, ma'am."

Fitz appeared in the doorway toting the box. He walked in and set it down on her desk then moved around behind it to pick up lining the shelves where Olivia had left off. Principal Thornton grinned at his back then at Olivia. "Well I'll leave you both to your redecoration."

"It was nice meeting you, Principal Thornton," Olivia replied.

"Please call me Verna." With a smile, she was gone.

"She seems nice," Fitz said as Olivia took a seat on the desk and began passing him books.

"She does. She's got some good plans."

XXXXX

"So tell me about your family." Fitz hefted desks around the room while Olivia dragged them, unable to lift one.

"Well my father is—was—a Frenchman named Dominic Moreaux. He and my mother had a brief affair while my father was… I'm not really sure where my father was at that point. My father—the man who raised me, I mean, Eli Pope—died not knowing the truth. My mother, Maya, managed to get them both trapped in her web. She's quite seductive. She'll get you mixed up in the craziest things."

Fitz nodded. "Do you think your father would have cared if he'd known?"

Olivia shrugged. "He forgave my mother for Dominic so I suppose not."

"How'd you find out?"

"I found out about my mother and Dominic when I was 12. He showed up at my birthday party with this little girl and she hit the roof. The girl—my older sister, Angelica—told me who she was and who he was. I didn't believe her until she took me to the bathroom and made me look at us in the mirror. It was the craziest thing. She had my face, but with white skin. Same hair, same eyes, same nose. She's like my twin."

"Did you know him? Is he still alive?"

Olivia shook her head. "My mother forbade it so long as I lived in her house. And by the time I moved out, he was dead. I suppose it's not so bad. Can't miss what you didn't have. And it's not as though I didn't have it. I had a father, just not my biological one."

She dragged the last desk into place then sat on it. "What about you? What's your family like?"

He smiled. It was a different smile than the one he usually fixed her with. It was sweetly boyish, like he was in another place and time. "Well my parents were a lot like you and me. My mother was a doctor's daughter, debutante and all that. And my father was their groundskeeper in the summer. They lived in this big old plantation house that belonged to my great-great grandfather. My grandfather had a fit about them, riding around the backyard on Dad's old green tractor, but they were in love. He had an even bigger fit when they got married, but there was nothing he could do.

Dad brought home $67 a week and bought them a little house on Magnolia Street in Shreveport where Mama gave him 6 mouths to feed. God knows how he did it. Mama's the classiest woman I know. She would throw these grand parties on our shoestring budget that everyone talked about for weeks. And Dad was just there, grinning like a goon while she lit up the room. You know they've been together 45 years."

"Which one of 6 are you?" Olivia certainly hoped their relationship turned out more like his parents' than hers.

"Unlucky number 6. The baby who got away with murder so my sister Liz tells it. Everyone else went to college and ate their vegetables and built these picture-perfect little lives. Picket fences and family dogs, Christmas cards and dinner parties, and all that. And then there's me. Cracker box apartment, no furniture, no dog, no wife. Just me and a radio."

Olivia smiled at him. "I like the radio."

He smiled back. "Me too."

XXXXX

*two weeks later*

"This is a much more appropriate time for a date," Olivia said as she opened her door to let Fitz in. It was nearly 9 and they were going back to the club. Olivia was even dressed and ready to go. She wore a light pink sleeveless dress with a full skirt and pink pumps.

Fitz grinned at her. He wore a white button down shirt and black dress pants. "You look like a princess."

Olivia grinned. "Don't I always?"

"Not when you wake up," he teased. It was a lie. Fitz found her most beautiful when she first woke up. She detested it, and had threatened him on several occasions, but he loved snapping her picture as she got ready in the morning.

Olivia smirked. "Perhaps I shouldn't wake up to you anymore."

"Perhaps you should get your purse so we can get on with this 'proper date' Your Highness."

Olivia laughed as she picked up her pink purse off the coffee table. "You're joking but that title certainly does have a nice ring to it."

XXXXX

"I thought the club didn't open until 11," Olivia said as Fitz pulled to a stop in front of it.

"I'm a man of surprisingly many resources." Fitz cut the ignition then got out of the car. He walked around to Olivia's door and opened it for her. He helped her out of the car then reached into the back seat to retrieve a brown bag. "I even bought wine."

He handed Olivia the bag and she pulled the cold bottle of German Reisling out. "Very nice, Mr. Grant. You're more refined that you let on."

"That's actually the work of my mother. I was gonna get gin to make you a Tom Collins but she said wine is more date-appropriate." He grinned. "What do you think of that? I'll be a gentleman yet."

Olivia laughed, slipping her hand inside his as they walked into the club.

The jazz quartet played soft music on the stage and nodded at Olivia as she and Fitz walked in. The place looked much more different without the crowds of people and clouds of smoke. The lanterns gave the main room a cozy glow. One table, covered with a white table cloth and set for two, sat in the middle of the dance floor. Olivia looked at Fitz with a surprised smile. "You did all this for me?"

"Well I wanted to give you a proper first date. I don't really have the money for one of those fancy places downtown so I recreated the scene with what I've got. Huck's making us a three course meal. Only God knows what it'll be but he promised something nice."

Fitz pulled out her chair and Olivia sat down, setting the bottle on the table. Fitz sat opposite her and smiled at the way the lanterns made her skin glow against the pink chiffon of her dress. He took the bottle of wine and opened it then poured some in their glasses. "I'm not a really big wine person so I apologize if it's bad. I'm more of a straight whiskey kind of guy."

"I don't like whiskey. It burns like hellfire. Plus it gets me drunker than any woman should ever be." She laughed. "I like wine because you can drink quite a bit before you're indecently tipsy."

Fitz laughed. "Well if you like it, it must be good."

He took a sip. "Nice. Sweet. Kind of tastes like green apples."

Olivia sipped it and smiled. "This is very good. It tastes very expensive."

"It came from my mother so it probably is. She says it's love in a bottle."

"What makes it love in a bottle?" Olivia smiled, resting her chin on her hand as she leaned closer.

"Well apparently, this is what my father bought the first time he took her for a tractor ride. They shared the bottle as they drove around and by the time it was gone, she was supposedly head over heels in love with him. I'd like to argue that she was just falling down drunk but she insists it was love. Must've been cause they kept going for rides on that tractor."

"I've never been on a tractor. It doesn't seem like it would be much fun," Olivia replied.

Fitz smiled. "Well we've got one at the house in Shreveport. Maybe I'll take you for a ride one of these days."

"That sounds nice." Anything with Fitz sounded nice to Olivia.

A moment later, a stocky Hispanic man appeared beside the table holding a tray with two plates topped with silver covers. Fitz smiled at him. "Huck, this is Liv. Liv, this is the best chef in Louisiana, Huck."

"Nice to meet you ma'am," he replied in a soft, husky voice. He made eye contact briefly but looked away just as quickly as he set the plates down.

"Huck's shy," Fitz explained. Olivia nodded as she looked at him. There was something endearing about his quiet nature.

He lifted the covers off the plates. "For starters, you're having a Cajun shrimp salad with a white wine and vinegar dressing. The main course is petite portions of Lobster Thermidor and Lobster a L'Americaine. For dessert, crème brulee with fresh cherries and whipped cream dusted with cinnamon."

Olivia looked up at him with wide eyes. "You cooked all that by yourself?"

He gave a little nod, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his apron. "I've always loved cooking classic food, but it's a little highbrow for this crowd. I figured someone like you could really appreciate that."

"Well thank you." He nodded and left. Olivia took a bite of the salad. "Oh, this is incredible. Huck is really talented."

Fitz smiled as he watched her eat.

XXXXX

"Well I'm stuffed," Olivia announced as she set down her spoon after finishing her crème brulee. Huck appeared to clear away their dishes. Olivia smiled at him. "You _are _the best chef in Louisiana."

He blushed. "I just love food."

"And it loves you back."

He left and Fitz smiled at her. "So what do we do now that we've eaten?"

"I know what we did last time." She smiled shyly at him.

Fitz grinned. "Well we could do that here, but I think we'd embarrass the band."

Olivia laughed. Fitz turned back to the band. "Can you guys play something slow and classy for the lady? She wants to dance."

The drummer nodded and muttered something to the band in his gravelly voice. They all murmured amongst themselves for a few minutes before they turned back to Olivia and Fitz. Olivia smiled as the saxophonist played the opening strains of Frank Sinatra's "Funny Valentine." "I love this song."

Fitz stood and offered his hand. Olivia took it and stood. They moved away from the table and Fitz pulled her body close, resting his right hand in the small of her back. "I'm not a very good dancer. My mother taught me about 20 years ago and I haven't done it much since."

"Don't think about it. Just feel it." She placed her right hand in his left one and he began swaying their bodies. Olivia smiled. "It's a simple box step. You step and I'll follow."

Fitz did as he was told and soon got the hang of it. He looked back at the band and mouthed, "One more time."

"_My funny valentine/ Sweet comic valentine/ You make me smile/ With my heart_," Olivia sang.

Fitz smiled. "_Your looks are laughable/ Unphotographable/ Yet you're my favorite work of art_."

"_Is your figure less than Greek?/ Is your mouth a little weak?"_

"_When you open it to speak?/ Are you smart?_"

"_But don't change your hair for me/ Not if you care for me._" Fitz smiled as Olivia joined him. "_Stay little valentine/ Stay/ Each day is Valentine's Day_."

XXXXX

Later that night, Olivia and Fitz walked up the steps to her apartment. He held her hand almost shyly as they reached her front door. He hadn't expected to have real first date feelings as it was technically their second, and especially not since they'd already slept together—twice—but there he was, suddenly sixteen again. "So how'd I do?"

"Tonight was magical. Absolutely incredible. I've never had a man do something so romantic for me." She smiled at him as she leaned against the door. "Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight?"

"I'd rather kiss you good morning over coffee," he replied with a smile.

"I suppose that wouldn't be terrible." Olivia turned to unlock the door and step inside with Fitz following closely. She went to the corner and turned on the radio. Maurice Clayton and the Zodiacs' "Stay" filled the quiet room. Olivia looked up at him with a smile. "Seem like this is our song."

"Come here and dance to it with me then." He held out his hand and Olivia walked over, allowing Fitz to slip her out of her dress then took off his shirt before taking her in his arms and swaying her around the living room.

**A/N: Next chapter will be a little time jump and Olivia will meet the Grants. And Olivia will start her new job. Don't forget to review! XOXO**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi! as always, thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. This story is very special to me and I'm so glad that it's special to y'all too. **

*six weeks later*

Fitz raised his hand to knock on Olivia's apartment door but it swung open before he made contact. She stood before him, a ceramic mug shaped like a tabby cat in her hand, and grinned. "Hi!"

"Well you're awfully perky this morning," he replied as she stepped back to let him inside. She flitted to the kitchen and Fitz smirked as he watched her refill her mug. He walked over and took the cup from her. "I think you've had enough, sugar."

Olivia smiled. "Maybe. I'm just a little nervous. It's my first day. I'm going to be a real teacher in a real class. And it's not just one class. This isn't practice anymore."

Fitz pressed his finger to her lips. "You're talking a mile a minute, Livvie."

"I'm excited! I've never had a job before. I even bought a new dress." She stepped back to spin around and give him a full view of her short-sleeved navy dress whose pleated skirt fluttered around her knees. She had paired it with light brown leather loafers. "Do you like it?"

"You look beautiful. But maybe you should wear different shoes. You look like a student."

"I do _not_!" Olivia gave him an adorable pouty face, her voice almost child-like.

"Yes you do, baby. All you're missing is the braces." He watched with a smirk as Olivia went into her bedroom and examined herself in her full-length mirror. She frowned at his reflection leaning against her bedroom doorframe.

"I think it's the pleats. I'm not tall enough for them."

"Change your shoes and see how you feel."

"Well I wanted to be comfortable…" She went to her closet and looked at her three rows of shoes for a long moment before finally picking out a pair of navy pumps with bows on the pointed toes. She switched out her loafers for them then turned to look at Fitz. "Better?"

"You look very grown up." Olivia stuck her tongue out at his teasing grin then went to her vanity.

"Maybe I should put my hair up. And put on a little lipstick." She sat down and set to work.

Fitz walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Well now it sounds like you're trying to catch a boyfriend."

"Maybe I ought to be since the one I've got treats me so badly."

Fitz smirked and pinched her cheek. "Oh yeah. I'm a real brute. Driving you to work, coming to get you at lunch time, teaching you to drive in a _very _nice Cadillac, letting you hog all the covers, not complaining about your freezing feet on me all night. I don't know how you deal with such abuse."

"Oh hush." Olivia finished applying her lipstick then stood, turning to look at him. She had pulled her hair back in a bun, secured with very sophisticated yellow ceramic chopsticks adorned with intricately painted pink flowers. "How do I look?"

"Like I should make you stay home so no one steals you away." Fitz grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't think you told me good morning yet. That's awfully rude, Ms. Olivia."

She smiled up at him. "Well if you hadn't walked in the door insulting me, I might have had time to properly greet you."

Fitz laughed as he leaned down to kiss her.

XXXXX

Olivia walked into the high school's front office and looked around at all the other teachers. She had never felt so young in her life. They all looked at least 30, if not much older. She wondered how she would make friends with people so much older than her. She wondered how she would teach students so close to her age, if they would respect her. She walked over to the time card slot and looked for her name. She found it near the bottom of the list, right above Principal Thornton's, and was thankful for its place as the entire apparatus towered over her. The clock that would punch the card was well above her head and she wished Fitz was there to reach it for her. She had come to value his height in the 6 weeks they'd been dating. He was always there to retrieve things from top shelves, and hang curtains, and dust her ceiling fans. She frowned, suddenly missing him terribly.

"Now what's got a pretty lady like you frowning?" She looked up and found a man about Fitz's height standing over her. He wore a congenial smile and a very tacky blue tie over his yellow shirt.

"Nothing. Just first day jitters," she replied, reaching up to punch her card.

"First job?" he asked.

"Yes. I just graduated in May. Is it that obvious?" She chewed the inside of her bottom lip, worried that if she looked like an amateur to another teacher, she wouldn't stand a chance with the students. Teenagers could smell fear.

"Not really. You just look young…in the best way, I mean." He extended his large dark hand. "I'm Edison Davis, the math teacher."

"I'm Olivia Pope, the English teacher." She shook his hand politely.

He grinned. "We're like opposites. You're all words. I'm all numbers."

Olivia smiled. "I suppose we are. I hope that doesn't mean we can't be friends."

"We can definitely be friends…or anything else you'd like."

Olivia gave a small, nervous laugh. She hadn't meant for him to think she was flirting with him. But he was the first person she'd met, and he seemed nice enough, so she decided to sidestep his comment entirely. Thankfully, the warning bell rang. "Oh! I've got to get going. I wouldn't want to be late for my first class."

"Good luck!" Edison smiled as she flitted away. He hadn't expected the first day to bring someone so beautiful to the school. It was going to be an interesting semester to say the least.

XXXXX

"Don't forget your reading journals!" Olivia instructed as her sophomore class collected their backpacks.

She smiled as many of them turned to grab the little composition notebooks from underneath their desks. They shuffled out of the room in clumps of friends, some turning back to say goodbye. They had taken to her much more than she thought they would. She had taught three classes, the freshmen and two groups of sophomores, and so far hadn't had any trouble. She put away her sophomore syllabus, taking out the one for the Honors Junior class and placing it atop her podium. She taught 7 classes, the entire freshmen class, and the Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and their non-Honors counterparts. She hadn't expected so many classes, but thankfully there weren't many students. The school was much smaller than she'd thought it would be.

"Knock knock." She looked up and smiled at Edison as he stood in the doorway. "How was it?"

"Good. They're bigger than me, but they listen." She smiled triumphantly. "And they're excited to read the book. I didn't think they would be."

"They're good kids, most of them. Watch out for the seniors though. They'll try every trick in the book to get out of doing work. Senioritis, they call it." He walked over to her desk, smiling at the back of her head as she erased her chalkboard.

Olivia looked over her shoulder at him briefly. "Did you need something?"

"I wanted to take you to lunch and introduce you to the other teachers," he replied.

Olivia's smile twitched. "Well I've already met a few of them and my—"

A knock on the open door cut her off. She looked up and smiled at the sight of Fitz standing in the doorway. He wore an army green t-shirt and jeans, and his work boots. His hands were still a little dirty but she knew it took a few washes to get all the oil off. He smiled at her as he entered. "Are you ready, Livvie?"

"Yes," she replied, picking up her purse, grinning as he walked over.

"I didn't know you wore glasses. They're cute."

"I can't read a word without them," she replied. She remembered Edison and turned to look at him. She wasn't sure if he was put off or just confused. She removed her black square horn-rimmed glasses and they dangled on a pearl chain around her neck. "Edison, this is my boyfriend Fitz Grant. Fitz, this is the math teacher, Edison Davis."

The men shook hands, sizing each other up. Fitz gave an almost friendly smirk as he wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist, his hand clasping her hip. "So you've been showing my Livvie the ropes?"

"She seems to have gotten the hang of it with no help from me at all." Edison didn't smile. Olivia hadn't wanted any tension but she was thankful Fitz had showed up when he had. She was terrible at confrontation, and she would have felt guilty turning him down when he was the first person to be nice to her.

"She's brilliant like that." Fitz grinned at Olivia as she looked up at him with a smile.

Edison gave a lopsided smirk. "I don't doubt it. I'm sure you two have to get going so I'll leave."

He hastily left the classroom and Fitz looked at Olivia with a smirk, giving her hip a squeeze. "Looks like I've got some competition."

Olivia laughed. "I thought he was just being nice."

"He was trying to get some of my brown sugar." He nuzzled her cheek with his nose.

Olivia laughed. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that anymore?"

"I'd stop if you didn't smile like that every time I said it." He kissed her cheek then her lips.

Olivia smiled against his mouth. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too, sweet thing." He caressed her cheek. "What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know. Take me somewhere. You always take to me the nicest places."

Fitz laughed. "No. _You_ take _me _to the nicest places. I take you to holes in the walls that you're too polite to call squalid."

She gave a cute shrug. "Well I think they're nice."

They left the school, headed for the parking lot, and waved at Principal Thornton as they passed the front office. Fitz drove Olivia to a little Cajun restaurant in the Quarter called Mama Tiana's. It wasn't a very large building but the smell of gumbo made Olivia's mouth water as they entered hand-in-hand.

"This place is famous for their po' boys. They've got the best ones in the city hands down," Fitz told her as he held the door open.

"I've never had a po' boy. My mother didn't approve of the name," Olivia replied. Maya resented the implication that a sandwich could signify her as poor.

Fitz smiled. "Well get ready to have the best one ever. They've got chicken, shrimp, roast beef, or ham."

Olivia smiled as she read the large menu. "Oh! They have artichoke. Have you ever had it?"

"If you can't deep fry it, I probably haven't eaten it."

Olivia laughed. "Steamed artichoke and butter sauce is incredible. You have to try it."

Fitz smiled at her as they moved to the front of the line. "Alright."

"What can I get y'all?" asked the big-haired, blue-eyed waitress. Olivia read her name tag: Mellie. Her eyes lit up when they recognized Fitz. "Ain't seen you in here in a while, stranger. Where you been hiding?"

Fitz shrugged, squeezing Olivia's waist. "My lady's been making me eat better."

Mellie looked at Olivia and she gave a thin smile. "So you're the flavor of the month?"

"Almost two months actually," Olivia replied, lifting her chin and locking eyes with Mellie.

Mellie's triumphant smile twitched and she shrugged. "You're a pretty one, I'll admit that."

"Mellie." She looked back at Fitz, who frowned deeply at her, and raised her hands in surrender.

"Right. Sorry. I'm supposed to forget that you had me one night and never called." She fished a notepad from under the counter. Olivia glanced at Fitz, her mouth a thin line. Fitz shrugged, saying with his eyes that he would explain. "What can I get y'all?"

"I'll have a beef po'boy meal with a sweet tea and a steamed artichoke." He looked at Olivia. "What do you want?"

"I'll have a shrimp po'boy meal with a diet coke," she replied.

"Diet Coke?" Fitz smiled at her. "You get any trimmer and I'm gonna have to put rocks in your pockets."

Olivia laughed as she opened her purse. "If I keep eating with you every day, there won't be any room in my pockets."

Fitz laughed, looking back at Mellie who was watching them with a half-amused smirk. "How much?"

"12 even," she replied.

"Ouch!" Fitz joked. "Dating a pretty woman's got to be the biggest racket running. Men have to be the stupidest creatures alive: blowing all our hard-earned money on nice meals and flowers just for a little sugar."

Olivia smirked at him as she fished out her wallet. "It wouldn't be so bad if you'd let me pay once in a while."

Fitz shook his head, pulling out his wallet. "Your money's no good here."

"I can buy lunch, Fitz." She pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Mellie who took it before Fitz could object.

He smirked at her. "_First_ and _last_ time, missy."

Mellie put the money in the register and gave Olivia her change. Olivia put the money in her wallet then put her wallet back in her purse. She looked up at him and stuck out her tongue. "Whatever."

"Hey buddy, you and your nigger girlfriend wanna hurry up! I got shit to do today!"

Olivia and Fitz turned to find themselves staring at a scowling bald man. He was dressed similarly to Fitz and looking at his dingy hands, Olivia guessed he was a construction worker.

"What did you say?" Fitz asked through gritted teeth. He and the man were about the same height but he was a little thinner than Fitz, and judging by the reddening of his face and neck, just as angry.

"I said you and your nigger girlfriend need to hurry up. You ain't got no business with her in here no way," the man replied.

Olivia gasped at the swiftness with which Fitz grabbed the other man's throat, hoisting him off the ground. "Fitz let him go!"

"I think you owe my lady an apology," Fitz hissed, not having heard Olivia. The other man's red face was slowly draining of color as he squirmed in Fitz's grasp. He sputtered but nothing came out. "I can't hear you."

"I'm sorry," he breathed.

"Louder!" Fitz demanded.

The man flailed, but Fitz's grip was too strong. "I'm sorry!"

"Fitz put him down!" Olivia repeated, stepping closer. She touched his arm and he finally looked at her.

His face instantly softened and he dropped the man. "Get the hell out of here."

The man scurried out of the restaurant and Fitz turned back to Olivia. He caressed her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just think we should go," she replied.

"Okay." He looked at her dolefully, hoping she wasn't upset with him. Mellie appeared with their food and they took it, ignoring the murmuring and looks from other customers. They left the restaurant and headed for the little patio area set up between the restaurant and the pub next to it, called Hair of the Dog. They sat at a table and Olivia opened her plate, examining the sandwich with interest. It smelled heavenly.

"Livvie, I'm sorry about that. I just…" Fitz wasn't sure how to explain himself. He had heard that word and his only thought had been how much it would hurt Olivia's feelings. "He said that word and I figured he'd hurt your feelings, and I…I'll never let anyone hurt your feelings."

Olivia looked down at her plate. "I've never been called a nigger before. It's odd, me being 25 and all. You'd think I'd have come across it at least once, but no one's ever said it to me, not to my face anyway."

Fitz rubbed her arm. "Did it hurt your feelings?"

"No. I don't suppose. I'm not really sure how I feel. He didn't say it like he meant any offense. He said it so matter-of-factly, as if there's no other way to refer to colored people." Her feelings weren't _hurt_, per se. She was more shocked at the pain that came from his flippancy, how sharply his casual racism had stabbed her. He had just thrown the word at her like it didn't mean anything

"He's an ignorant bastard." Fitz frowned. "What I don't get about the whole thing, is how every colored person gets lumped in together. White people never get judged like that."

"Stereotypes are born of incorrect generalizations."

"I know, but if people got to know us, they'd know they should be more prejudiced against me than you. You're loads smarter than me, and loads classier. Hell I barely finished high school and you've been to college and everything."

"What you're talking about is classism. I'm no better than you because we were raised differently, just like you're no better than me because you're white. We've all gotta let stuff like that go. Everyone puts their underwear on one leg at a time, and we should all act like it."

Fitz smiled, leaning over to kiss her temple. "I really could listen to you talk all day."

Olivia blushed, giggling softly, as she opened the Styrofoam box containing the artichoke. "This smells heavenly."

Fitz gave her and the vegetable a dubious look. "How do you eat it?"

"You tear off a petal. See the inside? That's what you want to eat." She showed him the inside of the artichoke. "And you dip it in the butter sauce."

She held the steaming vegetable to his lips. "Bite down with your teeth and pull it out."

Fitz did as he was told and chewed the pulpy vegetable. "That's good."

Olivia wiped the butter sauce off his bottom lip with a smile. "Artichokes are my favorite. I like to stuff them with a little spiced ground beef and white cheddar sauce. It's heavenly."

Fitz smiled. "Maybe you can make it for me some time."

"I suppose I could. What do I get if I do?"

"I'll make you my famous blueberry waffles on Sunday morning."

They finished their lunch then Fitz drove her back to the school. Olivia leaned against the car and watched Fitz pull on his coveralls, smiling at her as she zipped them for him. He took her hands in his and frowned. "I'm sorry about earlier. I really am."

"It's okay. No one's ever stood up for me that way." She smiled sweetly at him. "You're my white knight."

Fitz laughed, pulling the long curl on his forehead down. "How do you like that? I'm Superman."

Olivia laughed, her head falling back, and Fitz grinned proudly at making her laugh. There was possibly nothing that gave him greater pleasure. "Well how about a kiss for your hero?"

Olivia pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, giggling when he bit her bottom lip. Fitz's hands slid down her waist and he gripped her bottom in his large hands.

"Get a room!" Olivia and Fitz sheepishly separated and turned to find a group of cheerleaders grinning at them.

Olivia blushed and let Fitz go. "I'll call you tonight."

"I'll be home…alone." He smiled.

"Or you could be at my place." Olivia pulled her keys from her purse and held them out to him.

Fitz smirked. "Why do you want me at your place? What chore do you want me to do?"

Olivia widened her eyes and opened her mouth in feigned shock. "I can't believe you would even say that to me. You've hurt my feelings!"

Fitz laughed. "Oh please, Livvie. There's something you want me to do and you know it."

"Well maybe you could take down the curtains in my bedroom. They've got to be washed."

"I suppose I could." He took the keys. "But I get to pick what movie we see tonight."

"But you always pick!"

"That's a lie and you know it, Livvie."

"Is not!" Her voice was almost child-like. "You made me go see that awful movie about the birds last week."

"And you made me see _Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow_ the week before that so we're even."

"Well what do you want to see?"

"The new James Bond movie."

"Or we could go to the drive-in. They're having a week-long festival of movies that were adapted from books. They're showing _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ at 7 and _A Streetcar Named Desire_ at 9. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"_Streetcar_ is he one with the guy who reminds you of me, right?"

"Yes. You're my very own Marlon Brando." Olivia smiled, her hands resting on his broad shoulders. She gave him her best doe eyes, knowing he'd give in. "So what do you say?"

Fitz sighed and smirked, running a hand through his hair. "Stop making that face."

"No." She made her eyes wider, grinning sweetly. "Pretty please?"

"Livvie…" Fitz felt his will bending.

"Come on. For your brown sugar?" She poked out her bottom lip and gave him her sweetest eyes.

"Fine." He sighed. "You're the worst, you know that?"

Olivia kissed his lips and let him go. "I'll see you tonight."

"Bye, Livvie." He got in the car and waved as Olivia headed for the building.

Inside, Olivia gave Edison a friendly smile as she approached the time clock in the office. He smirked at her. "I didn't think you'd be into grease monkeys."

Olivia gave a smirk of her own. "Better a grease monkey than a horse's ass."

She left him there, frowning at her back as she walked away.

XXXXX

*six days later – Saturday*

A horn honked and Olivia went to look out the living room window. She could see Fitz sitting in his car in front of the building. She went to her purse, stopping to check her appearance in her mirror. She wore a bright yellow eyelet sundress with a bow on the back of the waist and fuschia pumps that matched her handbag. She picked up the small mint valise holding her tennis clothes then left the apartment.

Fitz smirked at her as she came to a stop beside the passenger side door. "What's with the luggage, princess?"

"It's got my tennis clothes in it."

Fitz's smile twitched. "You have tennis clothes? You know what I wear to play tennis? A lawn chair and a glass of sweet tea."

Olivia laughed as she got into the car. "Well when you said your parents had a court, I figured I should look appropriate."

"My mother has a court. My dad just drinks beer and watches her play against my sisters when they visit."

Fitz pulled away from the curb, draping his arm over the back of the seat. Olivia slid over until she was in his embrace. She looked up at him. "I get the impression you're a lot like your father."

Fitz smiled. "There's definitely a reason why I'm named after him and not my older brother."

Olivia opened her valise and pulled out a book. "I brought _The Awakening_."

Fitz looked down at her. "That's the one about the married woman, right?"

"Yes." She opened it to the marked page. "As Edna walked along the street she was thinking of Robert. She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. But the thought of him was like an obsession, ever pressing itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt upon details of their acquaintance, or recalled in any special or peculiar way his personality; it was his being, his existence, which dominated her thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity which filled her with an incomprehensible longing. Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert. She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been for her hungry heart! She wondered when he would come back. He had not said he would come back. She had been with him, had heard his voice, and touched his hand. But some way he had seemed nearer to her off there in Mexico."

Fitz asked, "She killed herself over that guy, right?"

"No. She killed herself because she couldn't live freely. Some people say it's because she had done irreparable damage to her life and couldn't deal with it, but that's not true. No one even knew what she did except that she moved out of her house for a little while. She killed herself so she never had to go back into the box she'd worked so hard to get free of."

"So she didn't really love him? She just wanted the freedom to love him?" Fitz had half-read the book but found it uninteresting. He couldn't identify with Edna. He couldn't comprehend her confinement, never having been confined in such a way himself.

"She absolutely loved him, but she loved the freedom that came with the love even more. In learning that she could fall in love and know passion, she learned what it really meant to be human. But it wasn't a freedom that could last in the current society so she took the only out she had."

Fitz nodded. "I don't understand why she didn't just cheat. It's not a good thing to do, but at least she'd have been alive."

"She did cheat. She slept with Alcée Arobin, the town seducer, but she didn't love him so the sex didn't fulfill the need she was looking for. And she tried to cheat with Robert, but he couldn't go for it. He loved her just as desperately, but he was worried about society so he left her again."

"That's sad."

"But there's beauty in the tragedy."

Fitz shook his head. "We'll have to agree to disagree. I liked the Hemingway book but this one isn't a favorite."

Olivia laughed. "Next we're going to read _Their Eyes Were Watching God._"

"What's it about?"

"A woman's journey to self-discovery and sexual autonomy."

Fitz smirked. "I think you're trying to turn me into a woman, Livvie."

"I've never been into women but I suppose if you were one, I could give that a try." She gave an impish grin. Fitz laughed and pinched her cheek.

XXXXX

"Fitz!" A tall woman with silver-blonde hair rushed down the steps of the large plantation house to greet Olivia and Fitz as they got out of his car.

Fitz smiled as his mother hugged him. "Hi Mama."

She stepped back and smiled at Olivia. "And you must be the Olivia I keep hearing about. Fitz didn't mention that you were so pretty."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Grant. Fitz speaks very highly of you."

The woman laughed sweetly. "Oh dear, Mrs. Grant is my mother-in-law. Please call me Naomi."

"Where's Big Gerry?" Fitz asked.

"Where else? On the back porch killing off the last of the Johnny Walker," Naomi answered. "You know he likes to get loose before our dinner parties."

Fitz nodded. He turned to Olivia. "My father's got what we call liquid charm."

"Better than being sober and sour," Olivia replied.

"Let's get out of this heat." They began walking up the brick walkway that led to the house. "I was just about to change for tennis. Olivia do you play?"

"Not as well as I used to. It's been ages," Olivia replied.

They entered the house's spacious foyer and Olivia looked around as they headed for the receiving room. Naomi turned to smile apologetically. "You'll have to forgive the gaudy furniture. It's all antique and my husband thinks it's lovely. I'd just as soon outfit the place in milk crates than keep it but I've given up the fight."

The room looked like an old movie set. Olivia could tell it hadn't aged past the 1870s. Everything was a relic, from the wagon wheel coffee table to the portrait of the slightly glowering man sitting astride a horse on the mantle above the fireplace.

"Fitz take Olivia up to your Elizabeth's room so she can change for tennis," Naomi instructed.

Fitz smirked. "Mama, Liv can change in my room. I'll be a good boy and won't peek."

Naomi laughed. "Take Olivia to Elizabeth's room and go get your father. I've got some gin that's begging for lemonade."

Olivia smiled at Naomi. "Are you making Tom Collins?"

"A whole pitcher. Do you like them as much as I do?" Naomi asked.

"They're my favorite cocktail in the world."

Naomi's grin broadened. "I like you."

Olivia blushed. "Thank you. I like you too."

She turned to Fitz and he gestured for the stairs. "After you, ma'am."

"He's a gentleman sometimes, a tramp others. The joy in him is discovering which you're getting," Naomi teased as she turned to head for the kitchen.

Olivia laughed as they headed for the stairs. She looked around at the art on the walls lining the hallway, and the flower arrangements sitting on small pillars between the doors. "Did your mother do all this?"

"Yes. Every season she changes the flowers and the color of this main wall because you can see it from the front door and the bottom floor. When she throws parties down there, she wants people to look up and see the theme of the season. Big Gerry's managed to get her down to four parties a year. I don't think he could live through the paint fumes otherwise." He stopped in front of a door and opened it then stepped into the room ahead of her and turned on the lights. "You know this place was one of the first places in the county to have electricity and running water."

Olivia followed him into the room and looked around. The walls were painted a deep shade of green that matched the bedspread. There were model airplanes hanging from the ceiling and bookshelves lined the wall behind the bed. Fitz sat on the bed and placed Olivia's valise next to him. "Pawpaw died when I was 10 and Mama inherited the house. She's been talking about leaving it to me since I'm the only one without a house. I don't think I want it though."

"You don't want it?" Olivia couldn't understand why he wouldn't want a house so beautiful.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. It's so much house, and what am I gonna do with it?"

"Throw parties like Gatsby." She laughed as she turned for him to unzip her dress.

Fitz looked up at her with a grin. It was too soon for him to tell her that he could see them filling the house with babies just as his parents did, throwing barbecues and birthday parties, sitting in the double rocker on the back porch. He unzipped her dress and Olivia slipped it off then folded it into the valise after she took out her white tennis dress and white Keds. Fitz smiled. "Now why haven't I seen this little outfit before?"

"You never play tennis with me." Olivia pulled the dress on then put on her socks and sat on the bed. She placed her feet in Fitz's lap. He looked at her with a smirk but put her shoes on and tied them.

"So if I played tennis with you, you'd wear miniskirts all the time?"

Olivia smirked. "Am I really a miniskirt kind of girl?"

"You've certainly got the legs for it."

"Perhaps I should do a little shopping then."

Fitz leaned her back on the bed, reaching beneath the perfect pleats of her skirt. "Maybe we should put this one to good use."

"Fitzgerald Thomas Grant you let that girl up off that bed." Olivia's eyes widened at the sight of Naomi standing in the doorway. She smirked at them as she shook her head. "You're certainly your father's child."

"I didn't get the name for nothing." Fitz grinned as he sat up so Olivia could too.

Naomi smiled at her. "Are you ready, dear?"

"I am if you are." She hopped off the bed, giving Fitz's hand a squeeze so that he would get up too.

XXXXX

After their game, Olivia and Fitz sat opposite Big Gerry and Naomi as they ate lunch on the patio beside the tennis court.

"So Ms. Olivia, what do you do?" Big Gerry asked. He and Fitz were like past and present versions of the same man. Big Gerry had the same curls and clear blue eyes, though his hair was shiningly silver, and the same earnest smile.

Olivia giggled. "Fitz used to call me the same thing when we started dating, Mr. Grant."

"Now put away that Mr. Grant business. Call me Big Gerry. My own kids do," he replied.

"Well, Big Gerry, I'm an English teacher. Fitz is my worst student. He is quite possibly the most argumentative man I've ever met. My analysis is never good enough. It's always too highbrow. There's always some simpler explanation. It's gotten so that I could practically strangle him over dinner." She grinned cheekily at Fitz.

Naomi laughed. "He didn't get the name for nothing."

Big Gerry chuckled. "Well, he's a man. Men are simple creatures."

"But everything in life isn't simple. Complexity is the hallmark of the human experience."

"Complexity is the hallmark of the female experience," Fitz argued. "Did you know that women speak more than 25,000 words a day? That seems excessive already, but when you learn that men only speak about 7,000, you get a much clearer picture of the difference between the sexes. By the time I'm hitting my stride in a conversation, you've already lapped me twice. And that's not the end of it. You girls have a million clothes, a million shoes, makeup, hairstyles, nail polish, magazines. You've got so much of everything that you can't make the simplest choices."

Big Gerry nodded. "Exactly. You know what men have? Shirts, pants, shorts, shoes. When it's cold, we put on shirts and pants. When it's hot, we put on shirts and shorts. Men get one haircut at 5 and wear it until they die. It could be the ugliest thing ever done to a head but it's on his head and who's going to change it? Not him. We read the newspaper, we drink beer, we eat whatever's good no matter how fat we get. You gals change your hair every week, have a million dresses—none of which seem to ever be the right one—and you can't eat just anything. A hundred restaurants in the city and Naomi can never pick. The only thing she's sure of is that she doesn't want whatever simple thing I've suggested."

Naomi smirked. "Don't you start with me, Fitzgerald."

Olivia turned to Fitz. "You don't have the name for nothing."

Fitz shrugged. Big Gerry laughed, putting on a comically high-pitched voice. "We can't go there. It's date night. We have to go somewhere fancy! Oh and wear a tie, honey, would you? Not that tie! Wear the one with the stripes that I bought from Sears! Oh, and wear that nice jacket. And put on the nice cologne I got you from Macy's, not that stuff you wear every day."

Fitz laughed heartily, his head falling back and imitated the voice. "Can't we go back to the place with the string quartet? I know you didn't like it that time but maybe this time will be different? Can you wash your hands again? That oil never comes off. Will you fix this? Let's go to the ballet. Will you wear that suit I like? Can you comb your hair again? Didn't you love that movie? How could you not love it? I cried."

Olivia smirked at Naomi. "We should have left them in their caves dragging their knuckles around."

"It seems like the best place for them if this is the thanks we get for a little culture and civility," Naomi agreed.

Fitz draped his arm around Olivia's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "I'm not saying I don't like your classy ways. I'm just saying there's a lot of fun to be had on my side of the fence too."

"I do have fun on your side of the fence. And unlike you, I agree to hop that fence without complaining." She poked the tip of his nose with her index finger.

"Because you don't have to wear a monkey suit on my side of the fence and listen to people like Edison Davis talk on my side of the fence."

Olivia smirked at him. "Oh hush."

"Well you're going to hop it again in a little while." Fitz smiled at his parents. "I brought Livvie out here to ride the tractor. She's never ridden on before."

"It's not exactly a carnival ride," Naomi replied. "They aren't meant to be riding anyway. They're for work. You and your hillbilly daddy are the only ones who don't think so."

Big Gerry smirked and nudged her with his elbow. "Hillbilly? Well you married me, so that makes you a hillbilly too."

Fitz grinned, giving Olivia's shoulders a squeeze. "You'll be one too by the time you leave."

"Oh I doubt that," Olivia replied with a smile.

XXXXX

"Climb up here in my lap," Fitz instructed as Olivia looked at him dubiously. He sat atop his father's new red John Deere tractor, grinning at her.

Olivia did as she was told but looked down at her pumps resting on the dirt-caked pedals with a frown. "What about my shoes?"

"They'll be okay, baby." Fitz leaned over, pressing his back to her chest and stretched his arms out, covering her hands with his on the steering wheel. "It's easier to drive than the Cadillac."

Olivia started the tractor and it hummed to life. Fitz rested his chin on her shoulder. "Now you wanna put it in drive and press the gas."

Olivia did as she was told but the tractor didn't move. Fitz smiled. "You've gotta give it a good push baby. It works better in boots cause the sole's harder."

"I don't have any boots." Olivia pushed harder on the gas and the tractor lurched forward.

"Well we can fix that." They drove around the backyard down a path cut through the orchard that led to the lake. "Stop right here at this hill."

Olivia stopped at the hill and Fitz cut the ignition then hopped off the tractor. He helped Olivia off and led her up the small hill. They sat down on its summit and Olivia gasped. "I've never seen a sunset so pretty."

The sun gleamed off the lake and bathed everything in golds and reds. Fitz wrapped his arms around her. "I love the city at night but nothing beats this."

"I've never seen anything like it. Mama never even took me to the country, even though we've got family out here."

"I take it your mama's awful uppity," Fitz replied.

Olivia looked back at him with a smile. "You have no idea."

"Do you think she'll like me?"

Olivia bit her lip and replied, "She's going to hate you. She's going to say I could do worlds better, and that you're a hick. But do you know what I'll say back?"

"What?" He smiled when she took his stubbly face in her hands.

"That there's no one else in the world I could be so crazy about." She smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

Fitz lay back on the hill and pulled her on top of him. His hands roamed down to the hem of her skirt and pushed it up so he could grip her warm, soft flesh. He rolled them over and Olivia paused to remove her dress, mindful that the grass would stain it. She giggled as Fitz's fingers fluttered over her thighs. Her own hands moved to his belt buckle and she quickly got his pants undone. Fitz tugged off her panties and pushed her bra down to expose her breasts. Olivia tugged at his curls, her breath hitching as his fingers explored the apex of her thighs. finding her delightfully warm and wet, Fitz eased inside her, pulling her legs up around his waist.

XXXXX

"Wake up, Livvie." Fitz rubbed her back as she lay atop him. "It's night time. We've gotta get going."

Olivia yawned as she awoke. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's just so quiet out here."

She put on her dress and shoes and climbed onto the tractor behind Fitz, wrapping her arms around him. She lay her head on his back as he started the tractor and put it in gear. "So how'd you like your first tractor ride?"

"It was much more fun than I expected." She hadn't expected to like riding around on a tractor of all things, but anything with Fitz

When they reached the house, they found themselves in the middle of the party. There were about a two dozen people scattered around the sunken living room, talking and laughing while Naomi flitted around entertaining everyone at once. Big Gerry sat in a chair in the corner, sipping his Scotch and grinning at his wife.

"Olivia! I've been raving about you! Come meet my friend Eileen. She's an English teacher at Hanover Day School in Baton Rouge," Naomi said when she spotted them. She took Olivia's hand and led her away to a group of women drinking wine.

Fitz smiled, watching as they walked away, then went to join his father in the corner at the bar where Big Gerry was mixing the punch. "So what do you think of Olivia?"

"She's a sweet girl, reminds me a lot of your mother," he replied. "I hope you're keeping your wits about her, though."

Fitz frowned. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not saying you should stop seeing her. She's a delightful girl: pretty, smart—"

"Then what _are_ you saying?" Fitz didn't like where the conversation was going.

"Just that you ought to be careful, more for her sake than your own." Big Gerry looked at his son earnestly. "New Orleans is an open place. Everybody's so mixed up that you can't call anyone any one thing. But she's… I grew up around colored people. We were too poor to live anywhere else so I understand that race isn't the big divider people like to think it is. But the rest of the world doesn't get that. And God forbid you get her in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

Big Gerry smirked. "Don't play coy with me, Fitzgerald. You know exactly what I mean. This world ain't no place for mixed race babies."

"First of all you're a good two to three years ahead of me. We haven't even been dating a solid two months. And if I did 'get her in trouble' as you put it, she'd be my wife first so it wouldn't be trouble anyway."

"And who, pray tell, is going to marry you and that girl?" Big Gerry asked. "Sure as shit ain't gonna be anyone this side of the Mason-Dixon."

"I can get to D.C. and get it done easy. Supposedly it'll be legal there in a few months. But, again, you're way ahead of me. Who's to say she'd even wanna marry me?"

"She'd marry you and you know it just like I do. And no one's saying that you two couldn't have a nice life together after people got used to y'all, but that period of getting used to y'all isn't going to go so easily. Just think about her in all this, son."

"I am, Dad. I think about her all the time. Sometimes I can't breathe because I'm thinking about her. I'm so full of love I can barely eat. So, thank you for whatever concern you have, but I don't need the advice." Fitz frowned and sighed. "I think we're gonna head out."

He walked away without waiting to hear Big Gerry's reply. He understood that his father meant well, but nothing in the world could stop him from seeing Olivia. He searched the crowd and found Olivia standing with his mother and Eileen. He walked over and wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist.

"I hope you ladies are behaving," he said. He had grown up around most of the women standing with Olivia.

"We're just having fun with your girlfriend. She's delightful, and so pretty," Eileen, a short red-headed woman complimented.

"She is," Fitz agreed, giving Olivia a squeeze. "But it's time I got her home."

"Are you leaving so soon? That nice boy from across the street and his friends have a little band. They're about to play some dancing music. Won't you stay and dance a little?" Naomi implored.

Fitz shook his head. "Mama you know I hate dancing."

"But you're so good at it."

Fitz looked at Olivia. "Do you wanna stay and show off my two left feet?"

Olivia smiled. "I suppose a dance or two couldn't hurt. You're really not as bad as you think."

"Wonderful! Will you teach us to dance like they do in that movie?" Naomi asked.

Fitz looked at his mother in surprise. "You mean _Dirty Dancing_?"

"Yes. Eileen says all the kids are doing it. We're just trying to be… What do the kids call it?" Naomi turned to Eileen.

"Uh… Hip! That's it. Help us get _with it_, Fitz." Eileen grinned.

Fitz turned again to Olivia. She just shrugged, only having been "with it" for a few weeks. He looked back at his mother and shook his head but went to where the boys were setting up their amps and talked to them. Olivia smiled at the boy's surprised face as Fitz talked to them. A moment later, Fitz was headed back to them and the slight teenaged lead singer was standing at his microphone, his guitar hanging at his side.

"We were gonna play you folks some slow stuff, but the hostess has requested we make y'all hip. Let's hope none of you break one? Am I right?" He grinned and a few people laughed. "Anyway, this is 'Stay.' It's the ultimate groove."

He played the opening strains of the song and Olivia smiled at Fitz as he offered her his hand. They moved to the center of the floor and he presented her to their audience with a wave of his hand. Everyone clapped, quite interested in the latest dance crave. Olivia smiled shyly but took hold of the folds of her skirt and wound her hips. Fitz watched her lose herself in the dance with a smile. Olivia began moving in a small circle, kicking out her feet behind her as she flapped the skirt of her dress. Fitz smiled. She was challenging him to chase her, a move he knew to be from the rumba she'd taught him in their only successful dancing lesson.

She tossed him a flirtatious smile when he didn't chase her the first time, and repeated the move, beckoning him to her as she wound in an almost serpent-like way. Fitz followed her, copying her moves. She stopped at the beginning spot of her circle, allowed him to catch her. At the contact of his body with hers, Olivia closed her eyes. She could almost pretend they were in her apartment. Fitz's hands found her hips and she raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck. She was surprised that he could copy her movements so seamlessly as he wasn't a very good dancer. He was better than he thought but Olivia was much better. Despite her reluctance to learn the dance, she had picked it up and run with it. She was a favorite at Lou's and everyone gathered when she and Fitz took the floor. What Fitz liked most about the way she danced was that it looked like he was leading, even though he usually had no idea what he was doing. He took her hand and spun her around, smiling at the way her hips never faltered in their winding. He pulled her back to him, grinning as she danced against him.

Olivia smiled at him as she wound backwards, the way she'd seen Amanda do. The crowd applauded her and Fitz smiled shyly. He'd never felt more like his father, looking on with adoration as people mooned over his girl. The band ended the song and the room erupted in claps. Olivia only blushed and smiled as Fitz presented her to with a wave of his hand.

"Isn't she something?" he asked the crowd. Everyone nodded. He smiled at his mother grinning at Olivia. He knew Naomi had been quite the dancer in her youth but that her ankles weren't what they used to be so she could only waltz now. They held hands as they walked over to say their goodbyes.

"Well now I'll never be able to do that in this lifetime, but it was incredible! You could be a professional, Olivia!" Naomi gushed.

"I don't know about that, but thank you. Fitz is the one who taught me that dance."

Fitz shook his head with a smile. "I taught her the basic steps but she's the one who made it so special."

"Will you stay for another dance?" Naomi asked.

"Mama we've gotta hit the road."

Naomi nodded and walked them to the door.

"Thank you for a wonderful time." She returned Naomi's hug with a smile. "We'll definitely be at the next party."

They said their goodbyes then walked to Fitz's car. He looked at her. "Did you have fun?"

"Much more fun than you'll have when you meet my mother," Olivia replied with a smile.

They got into the car and drove back to New Orleans. When they came to a stop in front of Olivia's building, they kissed like teenagers. "Call me when you get home?"

"Maybe. I've been neglecting my other girlfriends so I might have to call them first." Fitz touched her nose affectionately.

Olivia laughed. "Don't make me hurt you, Fitzgerald."

"Please do."

Olivia went upstairs and Fitz drove home, both wearing the same immovable grin.

**A/N: Next chapter will cover Olivia's birthday. What does Fitz have up his sleeve? And what will Maya say when she meets Fitz? Don't forget to review! XOXO**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi! So it's been 84 years since I updated. To be honest, I was contemplating leaving it unfinished, but I've been watching movies from the era and I had to get back to it. I've got updates for YAINTGB, ALPNKN, HBMP, and AMOC in the works too. I've just been dealing with a full course load, a full-time job, and what I'm suspecting is a chronic illness so there's been a lot of adjusting lately. **

**But enough of my problems, let's get to the story. **

September

Fitz immediately recognized the woman on the other side of the door when he opened it. Maya, however, was completely surprised at the tall white man answering her daughter's door. She didn't know what to make of him in his coveralls and assumed he was some sort of repairman.

"I'm looking for my daughter. Is she inside?" she asked, eyeing him curiously, wondering why he was answering the door if he was a repairman.

"Yes ma'am she is," he answered and stepped back to let her in. She looked him over again as she entered. He reminded her of Dominic with his dark hair and light eyes, but he was of a more rugged stock than her departed lover. He smiled politely at her as he resumed kneeling before the television. "I'm Fitz."

"Maya Pope. Pleased to meet you." She squinted at him when he looked away, wondering where Olivia was.

"Liv's getting dressed. She should only be a minute." He pulled the back off the television and inspected the wires, humming softly.

Before Maya could question him, the clacking of Olivia's pumps echoed off the hardwood floor and her daughter appeared in the living room. She smiled weakly. "Hi Mama. What brings you by?"

"It's your birthday," Maya replied.

Olivia blinked. "I know."

"I came to take you to lunch." Maya knew it was a surprise seeing as she and Olivia hadn't spent her birthday together in years, but she wished her daughter didn't look so surprised at the prospect of spending time with her mother.

"Oh." She glanced at the kneeling man. "I wish you had called, Mama. Fitz and I have plans."

"You have plans with the TV repairman?" Maya blinked.

Olivia frowned. "He's not the TV repairman."

"He's fixing the TV."

"Because I asked him to. He's my boyfriend, Mama."

Maya looked from Olivia to Fitz and back, not sure what to think of them. Fitz replaced the back on the television and turned it on, smiling at its clear picture. He looked at Olivia. "All fixed, Livvie."

She grinned proudly at him. "I knew you could fix it."

He stood and unzipped his coveralls, stepping out of them to reveal his maroon button down shirt and khaki pants. He looked from one woman to the other, wondering which of them would decide what they would do. Olivia gave her mother a crooked smile. "Mama, would you like to join us for lunch?"

Maya returned the expression. "I suppose that would be nice."

xxxxx

Clustered around a small table in Mama Tiana's, Maya took the opportunity to look over her daughter. Olivia was plumper than when she'd seen her last, and gentle laugh lines creased her face. Her hair was longer, and loose in springy curls around her face. Maya wondered why she'd stopped pressing it. She didn't wonder for very long as Fitz leaned over to murmur in Olivia's ear, a corkscrew curl coiled around his index finger.

A dark-haired waitress appeared and Maya's attention turned from them to the restaurant's small menu sitting on the table before her. "Welcome to Mama Tiana's. What can I get y'all to drink?"

"Just water please," Maya replied, still frowning at the menu. She didn't see anything particularly appetizing, only various helpings of grease and sugar.

"Sweet tea for us," Fitz replied.

"I think I'd better have a diet coke," Olivia interjected then turned to Fitz. "I told you no more sugar until I can zip my jeans again."

Fitz smiled, his eyebrows quirking. "I don't think there's anything wrong with the way your jeans fit, Livvie."

"I bet you don't." She smiled, popping the tip of his nose with her fingertip. She turned back to the waitress. "Sweet tea is fine."

"And a steamed artichoke, please," Fitz added. The waitress nodded and left.

Maya looked at him in surprise. "You like steamed artichoke?"

He nodded. "Livvie got me to try it a few weeks back."

"So you two have been together a while, then."

"About three months." Fitz smiled at Olivia, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Three months?" Maya's eyebrows raised as she looked at her daughter. "And I suppose I've been under a rock all this time?"

Olivia bit her lip. "I was working my way around to telling you, Mama."

Maya pursed her lips then turned to Fitz. "In case she hasn't told you, I'm rather embarrassing to her since I committed my life to making hers comfortable. It must be a terrible burden to have a mother who cherishes her."

"Mama." Olivia's mouth was a thin, annoyed line.

The waitress returned with their drinks and the artichoke. Fitz excused himself to wash his hands, leaving Maya and Olivia alone. Maya tilted her head, considered her only child. "You've gained weight."

Olivia looked down at her larger thighs. "Just a little. I think I could use it."

Maya nodded, looking at her water, running her finger around the rim of the glass. "He looks like your father."

Olivia's eyes widened. "He does?"

Maya nodded. "He's a little taller, and a bit more muscular, but he's a dead ringer for Dominic."

"I didn't know that."

Maya shrugged. "It's almost funny. You look a lot like me when I was your age. Suppose it's history repeating itself."

"Let's hope not." Olivia might not have remembered what her father looked like but she remembered what his existence had done to her parent's marriage, to her real father, the man who raised her like his own.

Fitz returned and resumed his seat, smirking at Olivia when she rubbed her bare arms. "I told you you'd need a sweater, but did you listen to me? Of course not."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I don't have one that goes with this dress."

Fitz scooted his chair closer to hers and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"So what do you do, Fitz?" Maya asked, watching him feed Olivia an artichoke petal.

"I'm a mechanic at a shop over on Third Avenue," Fitz answered.

"He can fix just about anything Mama. He's even teaching me to drive," Olivia interjected.

xxxxx

Fitz smiled as he watched Olivia grin at the red velvet cupcake on her plate, a single lit candle topping it. "Make a wish, gorgeous."

Olivia blew out the candle then peeled the wrapper off the cupcake. She took her knife and cut it in half to give Fitz part of it. The knife hit something solid and she pulled the cupcake apart. She pulled a ring from the cake's center and her eyes widened as she held it up. "What's this for?"

Fitz smiled. "It was my mother's. My dad bought it for her on their first anniversary and she gave it to me to give to you."

Olivia smiled as she wiped it off. She held it up to read the inscription: _Something beautiful for someone beautiful_. "Aww. This is the sweetest thing anyone's ever given me."

"Well let me see, Liv," Maya said, reminding them of her presence. Olivia slipped the ring on her right ring finger then held her hand out to her mother. Maya looked at the thin gold ring, decorated with three small round diamonds. "Very nice."

"It is." Olivia turned back to Fitz to kiss him. "This is my favorite birthday present ever. Thank you."

"Only the best for you, Livvie."

XXXXX

One Day Later

Olivia found herself frowning at the ring on her finger, something she never thought she'd do, as she held her calendar. She had circled the date in red to remind herself, but a week later she was still waiting, and she was never late. After staring at the calendar for far too long, she left her apartment and hailed a cab. The ride wasn't very long, and thankfully the driver decided to not make conversation with her.

She was surprised that she remembered the address, and that she had the courage to get out of the car and go to the front door. The face on the other side of the door mirrored her expression when the door opened. "Hi Angie."

"Liv…hi." Angelica Moreaux looked at her younger sister for a long moment before she gave an awkward smile. "I can't even remember the last time you were here. Well come in."

She stepped back and let Olivia in, turning to head for the living room. Olivia was surprised by how similarly her and Angelica's houses were decorated, and how much she and her older sister had grown to look alike. They were two sides of the coin: same curly hair, Angie's sandy brown where Olivia's was almost black; same wide eyes, Angie's hazel; same svelte figure, though Angie was a head taller than Olivia. Olivia had always thought she looked just like her mother, but looking at Angela, she wasn't sure.

Angela wore a red sweater over her white nurse's uniform, her hair pulled back in a low bun. "So, Liv, what brings you by?"

"I was just in the neighborhood," Olivia lied as she sat down on Olivia's couch.

Angela didn't believe her younger sister but she decided to not to press, guessing Olivia would tell her what was going on when she was ready. "Oh, well you should get over here more often."

"I'll try, Angie." A baby whined in another room and Olivia looked around in surprise. She hadn't even known Angela was pregnant. "When did you have a baby?"

"Dominique—we call her Nicki—just turned one," Angela answered before leaving the room. She returned a few minutes later with a little girl on her hip. She was a carbon copy of Angela, her blonde curls pulled up into a tiny ball at the top of her head. She walked over to the couch and sat down, settling the baby on her lap. "Nicki this is your aunt, Olivia. Can you say hi to Liv?"

"Lib." She smiled a four-toothed grin, waving her chubby hand.

"Hi." Olivia smiled at the baby, briefly wondering if something similar was in her near future. She tentatively reached for the baby and the little girl scrambled onto her lap. "What's your name?"

"Nicki," she replied proudly, reaching for Olivia's pearl necklace.

"She looks just like you," Olivia said, reaching up to unhook her necklace to give to the baby.

"Ooh," she cooed softly, rolling the pearls between her little hands.

"She doesn't act a thing like me, though. She's a real firecracker." Nicki yawned and lay back on Olivia, still rolling the necklace between her hands. "This is probably the calmest she's ever been with company."

Olivia smiled down at her. "She seems like a doll."

"She's a darling most of the time, but sometimes she's hell on wheels, especially when her father visits. They can destroy the house in half an hour."

"When he…visits?" Olivia wasn't sure if she had the right to ask. She and Angie weren't exactly friends.

"Yeah. He moved out a few months after she was born. It wasn't working."

Olivia wasn't sure what to make of her sister's nonchalant tone. "And you're okay?"

"We weren't happy anymore. Babies have a way of revealing the truth about relationships and ours wasn't a happy one."

"I'm sorry," Olivia murmured. It occurred to her how disconnected she and Angela were when she realized she didn't even know Angela's husband. She hadn't even gone to the wedding.

"Me too." Angela looked up at her sister with serious eyes. "So what's going on?"

"I think I'm pregnant," Olivia admitted. She thought saying it out loud would make her feel better, but it filled her with more anxiety.

"How late are you?"

"Ten days." It wasn't technically a lie. She had bled for two days the month before so she counted it as a period, even if it was four days shorter than usual.

Angie shook her head. "That's a gray area. Twelve to fourteen days is when you should really be concerned."

"But I've never been late before, not once, not in 11 years." She bit her lip. "What should I do?"

"Wait. It's the only thing you can do, Liv."

"I can't wait," Olivia almost whined. "What am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Talk to your boyfriend and see how he feels about babies."

"But what if I am…and he doesn't…" She couldn't imagine what she would do if Fitz didn't their baby.

Angelica squeezed her hand. "If you are, you are, and if he doesn't then he doesn't. Stanley didn't."

Olivia held her head in her hands. "Oh my god."

Angelica rubbed her back. "Hey, tell you what, if you are and he doesn't, you'll just move in here and we'll be unwed mothers together."

"My mother…" Olivia couldn't even fathom what her mother would say.

"Will grow to accept you like mine did, or stick to her principles and miss out on her grandchild. That's up to her, Liv." The cuckoo clock on the wall chimed three and Angelica looked at it. "Oh. I've got to get to work."

Olivia watched as her sister stood and smoothed her white nurse's uniform. "I suppose I should get home to wait."

Angelica frowned at her despondent sister. "Tell you what, Liv, take Nicki for the day. I'm sure my landlady could use a break."

"Are you sure?"

Angelica nodded. "Worst case scenario, she kills you. Best case, you find out motherhood isn't so bad."

Olivia looked down at her niece, smiling at the curly-haired baby's fascination with the pearls. "What does she like to do?"

"Eat, mostly. And she loves the park." Angelica went and pulled the baby's stroller from the closet. "She toddles a bit, but you'll need this. She's terribly pigeon-toed and it tires her out."

Olivia nodded as she stood, hefting the baby onto her hip. She kicked up her little foot, pointing to her navy leather t-strap Mary Jane. "Shoe."

Olivia smiled. "I see. Did you go to the store to get them?"

The baby nodded. "Store!"

Saddled with Nicki's polka-dotted diaper bag and stroller, Olivia left Angelica's apartment and took a cab to her own. She wasn't surprised to find Fitz there, his legs sticking out from under the kitchen sink.

"Was that faucet still dripping? The super swore he fixed it," Olivia said as she rested the stroller next to the front door.

"He just jammed a washer in it," Fitz replied as he crawled from beneath the sink. "It should be fine now."

He stood and wiped his hands on a dish rag. His eyebrows raised at the sight of Olivia holding a baby. "Whose baby is that?"

"Angelica's. I went over to visit and she offered to let me take Nicki for the day. Isn't she the cutest thing?"

Fitz smiled as he walked over to take the baby. She grinned as he held her. "Hello. What's your name?"

"Nicki!" She held the collar of his denim work shirt.

"I'm Fitz. Can you say Fitz?"

"Fizz," she replied.

Olivia watched them with a smile, hoping Fitz's smile was a good sign. "Angie said she loves the park. Do you wanna go?"

"Yeah. Can we get some lunch first? I'm starving." He smiled down at Nicki. "Do you wanna eat, little bit?"

"Eat!" She kicked her little feet, looking back at Olivia. She pointed at her then turned to Fitz. "Lib!"

"Yeah that's your aunt Liv. She's gonna buy us lunch before we go to the park."

Olivia laughed. "Since when do I pay for things?"

"Since I got a look at your paycheck. You've been holding out on me, Livvie." He smiled.

Olivia chuckled. "Verna got me a little extra money to help start an anonymous pantry at the school for the kids. Apparently for some of them school lunch is the only decent meal they get. So we got this idea to start a pantry where they can come in and get food to take home. I've been looking in second hand stores to get some winter clothes too. It'll be cold soon."

Fitz grinned at Nicki. "You hear that? Your aunt Liv's a saint."

Olivia shook her head, her cheeks warm. "I'm just looking out for my kids."

The phrase "my kids" gave her pause as she picked up her purse and Nicki's yellow polka-dotted diaper bag. Fitz picked up her white stroller then followed Olivia down the steps. On the sidewalk, Fitz squinted at the afternoon sun. "It's nice out. You wanna walk?"

Olivia smiled at him. "That sounds nice."

He set up the stroller and Olivia put Nicki in it. Fitz wrapped his arm around her shoulder as Olivia pushed the stroller down the sidewalk. "Where should we eat?"

"I'm in the mood for something greasy."

Fitz squeezed her side. "Aren't you always?"

Olivia looked up at him. "What's the supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "Lately, you've been eating worse than me, Livvie. And I almost lost a hand last night when I tried to eat one of your fries."

Olivia gave a half-smile. "I was hungry."

"You always are. It's been eat or be eaten around you for a good week."

They reached a small café, Mama's Kitchen, a few blocks from Olivia's building and went inside. Fitz got them a small table near a window and Nicki lifted her arms to be taken out of the stroller. Olivia smiled as she settled the baby on her lap. "What should we eat? Do you want some peas and carrots?"

Nicki shook her curly head. "No."

"What about some spaghetti?"

"No," the tot replied.

"Want some mac and cheese?"

At this, she turned to smile at her aunt, nodding. "Cheese!"

"And some chicken?"

"Yeah!"

A waitress with a large brunette bouffant took their order then flitted away to attend to her other numerous tables. Olivia looked around at the other tables, noticing how many families there were, many with multiple small children. She told herself it wouldn't be so bad, having a baby, especially with Fitz. She knew it was naïve and almost nauseatingly optimistic, but she believed they could do anything together.

Nicki picked up Olivia's spoon and held it up for Fitz to see. "Spoon!"

"That's right." He picked up his glass. "What's this?"

"Cup!"

After they named all the flatware, Nicki got fussy. Olivia tried to soothe her to no avail and Fitz smiled at her flustered face. He stood and walked around the table to pick the baby up. He bounced her gently in his arms. Olivia exhaled as Nicki's whimpers quieted. She watched as Fitz pointed at the window and talked softly to her. The baby was giggling by the time the waitress returned with their plates. Fitz sat down, balancing Nicki on his knee.

"Ooh look what we got!" He picked up a string bean and held it up in front of her face. "We've got string beans Nic! These are my favorite!"

He ate the string bean and Nicki reached onto the plate to pick one up. She stuffed it in her mouth and chewed it. Fitz smiled at the top of her head. "We're gonna eat all these, aren't we?"

Nicki nodded, already stuffing another in her mouth. Olivia watched with soft eyes as Fitz got the child to clean her plate. Her little hands were a mess as she drank apple juice from her bottle, but she lay back contently against Fitz, her wide eyes heavily lidded.

Fitz smiled at her then at Olivia. "Well somebody's full."

Olivia looked down at her own empty plate. "I'm stuffed too."

"Should I take you sleepy girls home?"

Olivia shook her head. "No. She's already had a nap. I don't want to take her back to Angie all riled up."

Fitz signaled for the check, smiling at Nicki as she attempting to dip his spoon in his mashed potatoes. He placed his hand on top of hers and scooped up a spoonful then let her feed herself. "Are those good?"

"Good!" she replied, scooping up half a spoonful that she held up to him. Fitz ate the potatoes as the waitress returned with the check.

Olivia pulled her wallet out of her purse and Fitz smirked at her. "I'm not really gonna let you pay, Livvie."

"I've got the money," Olivia insisted.

"You can buy the ice cream at the park."

xxxxx

Olivia and Fitz sat on the border of the sandbox, watching Nicki fill a pail with sand then dump it out, laughing each time. Olivia finished her strawberry ice cream then looked at Fitz. "So what do you think?"

"Of what?"

"This." She nodded at Nicki, smiling as she turned the pail over with a squeal.

He smiled. "This is nice. I think I'd do better starting out with a boy, but we could do it with a girl."

"We could." Olivia gave a crooked smile, thinking that they might be doing it sooner than he thought.

XXXXX

Three Days Later

Olivia had to smile at the silly feeling of sitting in the nurse's office. The school's dark-haired nurse, Quinn, returned with a cup of orange juice and a small pack of saltine crackers. Olivia took them with a frown. "Don't you have any medicine that might settle my stomach?"

Quinn shook her head. "Nothing I can give you. You're pregnant, Ms. Pope."

Olivia's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes ma'am. I've seen my share of pregnancies in here, and you've got the look." She gave a small smile. "You should probably get yourself some vitamins. They'll stop you from looking so peaky."

Olivia nodded as she hopped off the small examination table. She wasn't sure if she was terrified at the revelation, or relieved to finally know for sure. "Thank you."

She left the room and went back to her own classroom, surprised to find her students arguing about what would have happened if _Lord of the Flies_ had been about girls instead of boys. The boys maintained that the girls may have survived longer but would have inevitably come to the same end. The girls disagreed vehemently, arguing that girls would have lived much more amicably for much longer. They stopped and looked at her when she stepped into the room, all concerned after watching her wretch up her lunch. She shook her head. "Please continue. I'm very interested in this debate."

They quickly resumed their argument and Olivia sat at her desk, wondering how she would tell Fitz the news. He had said they could do the baby thing, but she doubted he meant they could do it three months into the relationship.

XXXXX

Olivia wasn't sure what to make of Fitz's silence as he sat on her bed, looking at her as she stood in the bathroom doorway in her nightgown. She clutched the hem of the cotton gown and looked at him with uneasy eyes. "Fitz…say something."

"I've gotta quit smoking," he replied.

"What?" She blinked at him.

"I've gotta quit smoking. It's bad for pregnant women, right? And I've gotta get a decent place, and a better car. Maybe one of those station wagons with the big backseat and all that. And I need a suit, a better one than I've got anyway." She watched as he got out of bed and went to her desk. He sat down, still talking to himself as he gathered a pen and paper to make a list. "I figure we can take the train to D.C. and get married easy, but then we've gotta find a house. One with a backyard or a swing set and all that. We're gonna need a church too, for the blessing or christening or whatever."

"Fitz." He stopped and looked at her. "You're not upset?"

He blinked at her. "Upset? How could I be upset, Livvie? You're having my baby! That's the best news in the world!"

She twisted the hem of her gown. "I just thought… We haven't been together that long and I thought maybe you'd think it was too soon."

He stood then and walked to her, wrapping his arms around her with a smile. "You are a silly, silly woman. Don't you know I'm crazy about you? I've been planning to marry you and have babies since I met you—if you'd have me, anyway. Suppose you've got no choice now."

Olivia finally smiled and let go of her nightgown. She lay her head on his chest. "We've got to tell our families."

"Well my folks love you, and your mama… Well she doesn't hate me, not yet anyway. She might hate me after we break the news." He squeezed her tighter and kissed the crown of her head. "Are you happy?"

"Yes." Olivia looked up at him and smiled, the feeling blooming warm in her chest. "I'm hungry too."

"One grilled cheese coming up." She lifted her arms to be picked up and Fitz smirked at her but lifted her in his arms. "Don't get used to this."

Olivia laughed as they left her bedroom. "Well, in a few months you won't be able to do this at all. Take advantage of a tiny girlfriend while you've got one."

Fitz kissed the hollow of her throat. "Pretty soon you'll be my mean old wife."

Olivia giggled. "I'll be fat too."

"Can I get fat too?" He entered the kitchen and set her on the countertop.

"Yes, but fatter than me. I wanna be the skinny one."

Fitz smiled, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Anything for you."

"Even French onion soup with my grilled cheese?"

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Even that. But just this once."

**A/N: Don't forget to review! XOXOXO**


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